


Goodbye Dear Kat

by CubsWin2016



Category: City of Love: Paris (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, City Of Love, F/F, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Sex, Paris (City), Revenge, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-04-27 18:08:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 43,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14431218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CubsWin2016/pseuds/CubsWin2016
Summary: What would you do if someone murdered your best friend? Would you bring the killer or to justice or would you be out for blood? What if a whole town were in peril? Would you want vengeance so badly that you would forget your duty to town you lived in? Meet Connie Adams. She went home to her Parisian flat to discover that her best friend Kat had been murdered and left on her couch. Now she has to solve a mystery threatening the City Of Lights while fighting her own grief and rage. Sometimes Connie will do anything to get through the pain even if that thing is not very good for her. Will Connie's friends be able to heal her or will she just snap? Will Connie chose to rebuild her life or will she ruin it with vengeance? Read and review to find out. This story is based on the tablet game City Of Love and takes place in Paris, France.





	1. Desperation And Destruction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the first chapter where Connie deals with the sadness and rage she is feeling because of Kat's death. Noor helps in her special way.

Chapter One: Desparation And Destruction

I really loved you.

Now you'll never know.

You'll only fade into the wind.

(Mariah Carey)

My name is Connie Adams and I am a platinum blonde with a very average build. I grew up in the States and went off with my best friend Kat for parts unknown when we got out of school. I am not a whole person any longer. My best friend Kat was getting too close to something that had the potential to destroy Paris. Someone didn't like what Kat was digging into so that person not only murdered my best friend but that person also framed me.

Part of me feels that I am responsible for Kat's death. After I helped saved Paris from Vincent's Elixir Of Love scheme, I tried to start a lesbian relationship with Kat. She turned me down which drove a knife through my heart. I was so distraught by Kat's refusal that I ran off to all sorts of countries and did all sorts of odd jobs. One might say my life at that point was comparable to Forrest Gump running all over the United States when Jenny turned him down. If I had stayed in Paris, I might have been able to see what was going on sooner and protect Kat. There is another reason why I blame myself for my friend's death. Just before Kat's death, she told me that she was going to meet someone. I offered to go with my buddy, but she turned me away. I should have put my foot down and refused to let my pal go off alone. I know that would have only created a rift between us. I should have followed her covertly. Did I do either of those things? No! What did I do? I went on a stupid sightseeing trip! When I got home, I found Kat dead on the couch which made me feel like the ground had opened up and swallowed me whole.

There is only one thing that I feel that I can do about all of this. Most people would think that I should bring the killer to justice, but I am not going to do that. I want the killer to suffer. I want the killer to pay. When I feel that the murderer has paid enough, I will end that wretched and putrid existence forever. I hope that I will be able to do the deed with my bare hands. I know that might ruin my life and cause me to spend the rest of it behind bars, but I just do not care what happens to me anymore. Soon the killer will face someone who has nothing left to lose.

One interesting person that I have met while trying to solve this case is called Noor. Sometimes I think of her as a friend and sometimes I think of her as a suspect. Either way, I find her very captivating. That woman with short dark hair is well endowed upstairs and is slightly taller than I am. Probably the most interesting thing about Noor is that she has several tattoos. Normally I find tattoos on a woman a real turnoff, but somehow they seem to make Noor look hotter. I really can't understand why I feel that way about her tats. I don't really think that this particular woman killed Kat, but I do think that she knows something helpful to my case. Because of that, I have wrangled an invitation to Noor's apartment. Even if I don't find out anything, I still won't find this trip a total loss because I find this wild woman fun to be around.

I am climbing the steps outside her apartment which happens to be in a dingy neighborhood when I encounter a major problem. My eyes are starting to water and my legs become weak so I sit on the steps with my hands over my eyes. A deluge of tears is pouring from my eyes which is making me feel like a two year old. The weird thing about this is that it has been a couple of days since I found Kat dead on the couch and I hadn't cried a single tear for her up until now. I have just figured out why. I was in shock. To my right, I almost think I can see a ghostly version of my best friend sitting on the steps and crying with me. I am not only crying but I am shouting one desperate plea to the whole world.

"WHY, KAT?! WHY?!"

All of a sudden, I feel a very real arm wrap around my shoulders. I look over and I see a tattooed hand on my left shoulder so I know that Noor is with me. I am so grateful to have a real person with me that I reach over and squeeze her into my grasp. She rubs my back with her left hand and she fondles my shoulder length hair with her right hand. We sit there on the stoop for what seems like forever until my torrent of tears subsides a little. It is at that time when Noor invites me into her apartment which only seems to have two rooms and a stairway going up to who knows where. I now feel so wiped out that I think I could collapse on the floor at any moment.

"May I crash here tonight?" I ask my sometimes friend. "I don't want to be by myself."

"Okay," Noor agreed while fishing out a pink nightgown with a white ribbon from her dresser. "You can wear this if you want."

Since I have absolutely no energy left to ask any questions, I go into into the bathroom to change. I strip off all of my clothes and put on the nightgown. Just when I am about to leave the bathroom, I feel a blinding surge of anger so I rush to the sink just so I can pick up glass bottles and throw them. Each time I throw something the words "MY FAULT!" erupt from my mouth. The second bottle that I throw is a perfume bottle that I throw so hard that I wind up sending it through the mirror of the medicine cabinet. That is when I hear the door banging open just as I throw a third bottle.

"What in the hell are you doing?" Noor blurts out while rushing to stop me from throwing a fourth bottle.

As I start crying again, Noor practically drags me out of the bathroom and has me sit on her bed. I don't think that I will ever stop crying. I feel my friend for the night wrap her arms around me and squeeze.

"Is there anything I can do?" Noor asks.

I know that there are no quick fixes in life, but I want to do something or even take something that will deaden my pain for one night because my tears are starting to make me feel weak even though I know that it is no sin to cry especially when you lose one of the people you care about most. I try to think of something I can do that will let me forget what happened for one night. I look at Noor and I get an idea of something that I can do to lessen my pain and even have a little bit of fun on the side. Ordinarially, I wouldn't even think of doing something like this since I barely know the woman hugging me, but the part of my brain that is charge of thinking has completely shut down at the moment.

"Please let go of me for a second," I request in between sobs.

"Now what? Noor questions while putting her hands on the bed.

I might hate myself in the morning for doing this, but I just don't care right now. I yank off the nightgown I am wearing over my head and throw it on the floor which puts my entire birthday suit on display for Noor. I put out a desparate plea to her.

"Help me!"

"Okay, I'll help you," Noor responds while taking off her flowered black vest and throwing it on the floor. "Is there a specific way that you want me to help you?"

"I want you to help me to forget what happened to Kat for one night," I explain as two more tears run down my face. "Hell, I want you to help me to forget my own name."

My gal pal nods in understanding as she unbuttons her white shirt. As soon as the shirt hits the floor, I discover that the vixen is not wearing a bra since her beautiful orbs are now fully visible. I cannot control myself any longer so I quickly move in and start sucking on her left breast.

"Hey, slow down!" Noor protests while prying me off of her breast. "You don't want to rush through this. Trust me. Good sex starts out slow and sneaks up on you."

I simply nod my head since I know that the woman in front of me has had a lot more experience in these matters than I have had. Noor slips off her shoes and then pulls down her pants to show me that she isn't wearing panties. Now we are both sitting on her bed completely naked and I am willing to let this sexy witch do whatever she wants to me as long as she can take my poor scarred mind off of my problems until I fall asleep. Noor ponders how to begin as I notice that she has a healthy growth of pubic hair around her vagina while mine is completely shaved. This does not surprise me since I know how wild my current love partner is. She leers at me once she decides how to begin.

"Medicine like this works best if you take it in an unexpected way," my lover suggests.

"What do you mean?" I wonder out loud with wide open eyes.

Noor opens the top drawer and rifles through it for a second. She retrieves a black satchel from the drawer and then walks towards the staircase.

"Follow me," my temporary nurse insists.

I do as I am told and start climbing the stairs behind the mysterious woman because I know that I am powerless to resist whatever wild games she has in store for me. She gets to the top of stairs and opens a door which leads to a flat roof. As I enter behind my doctor, I deriously notice that there are several neighboring buildings with windows that would give anyone inside a clear line of sight of Noor sharing lesbian sex with me. My mind is so messed up at the moment that I don't care. I want to take my physician's medicine regardless of what it costs me. The temptress leads me to a red couch and has me lay down on it.

Noor sets her black bag down and advances towards me which causes my heart to beat at least three times faster than it usually does. My temporary caregiver lifts up my left leg and starts sucking on my big toe. I can tell that the medicine is starting to work already because I am not thinking about Kat as much. Soon the doctor gives the same treatment to each one of my ten toes causing me to moan a little.

"So you like that, do you?" Noor asks me with a lewd grin.

She continues by raining kisses all the way up my right leg as my breath quickens in anticipation.

"Thank you," I put out with what little voice I can muster.

"You're welcome," Noor responds while nodding at me.

She then proceeds to cover my left leg with kisses. She makes a move towards my belly button when she finishes my legs. My lover licks it with much relish at first and then kisses it repeatedly. This is driving me crazy because Noor is only inches from where I want her to be. The minx puts her hands on the sides of my breasts and suckles my right nipple. I wrap my left arm around the fireball's head to encourage her to amp up the pressure.

"HEHEHEHE! MORE! I CAN'T STAND IT!"

After quite a few minutes, Noor puts my legs over her shoulders and lifts me up slightly. This is when the crazy doctor does what I have been waiting for all this time. She starts eating me out. It has been a while since a tear has left my eyes. I show Noor my gratitude by screaming and grasping onto her hair. My screaming gets louder and louder. Then, a city leveling earthquake hits me.

"AH! I'M BREAKING UP!" I cry out while my lover drinks my fluids.

"Close your eyes while I get ready for the next part of your treatment," my physician instructs me while lowering me back to the couch.

I close my eyes and wonder what could possibly be in store for me next. I am also wondering if I am strong enough to take it. Noor tells me to open my eyes after a few seconds and I see her wearing a pink strap-on dick. She begins to insert her toy into my pussy and I wrap my arms around my caregiver. Noor meets some resistance at first and then steals my virginity which causes me to holler out in pain and scratch my nurse's back. I look down and I see a trickle of blood run down my leg. My special gal pal pumps me slowly at first and then drills me. I can't stop screaming at this point. It isn't long before I have an orgasm even more severe than the first which causes my eyes to roll back into my head.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME? I'M CUMMING!"

It takes at least a minute for my heart to recover. I must admit that I cannot stand to take anymore medicine.

"No more... I surrender..."

Noor puts her special toy back into the bag and then helps me up.

"Are you okay?" Noor asks me while supporting me by placing me by placing her right arm around my back.

"I think so," I sigh.

"Look, I know how badly that you want to catch Kat's killer, but I really think you should take a day off," the doctor prescribes me.

"I can't..." I start to argue.

"If you get involved with these maniacs and you're head isn't in the game, you will only get yourself killed," Noor interrupts me. "I know that I haven't known you for very long, but the first time I saw you, I was impressed by the beautiful spark in your eyes. That spark is disappearing. I don't want that to happen. Don't you have a tough friend that can help whip you into shape?"

"Okay, I give," I respond with my hands raised in surrender.

"Good, then let's get some sleep," Noor insists while helping me to her bed.


	2. Survivor's Guilt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After letting Noor have sex with her just to get rid of her pain for a night, Connie goes looking for a tough friend who can best help her deal with the grief of losing Kat. Which of Connie's friends is tough enough to help her deal with the biggest and most painful problem of her life?

The sweet smell of good food cooking wakes me up and I realize that I am in someone else's bed. I am still a little groggy so I look around to gather my bearings. When I look at myself, I not only realize that I am naked, but I also see that there is a little bit of dried blood in between my legs. The sight of the blood makes me realize there is a bit of pain inside my vagina. The evidence suggests that I had sex with someone and gave up my virginity. This confuses me because I am a lesbian which means that I do not sleep with guys. I tried to date of couple of boys in high school, but I got a sick feeling in my stomach each time. I have finally figured out what happened. I slept with a woman that I barely knew who was wearing a strap on which I had never done in my life. I normally would be appalled by my lack of judgment, but I am not this time because I have just now noticed the burning pain inside my heart. I now try to figure out what is wrong inside my heart. Oh, no! Not Kat! My best friend is dead and I was the one who found her body. The last piece of the puzzle falls into place. I did not have sex with Noor for romance, but I did it just so I could stop crying for a few hours. I slowly sit up in bed and a tear comes out of my eye. This is immediately followed by a hand patting my left shoulder.

"Did the medicine wear off?" Noor asks me with sad eyes.

"Yeah," I sigh.

"I'm sorry," Noor apologizes. "Do you want another treatment?"

"I'm just going to have to learn how to deal with this," I complain.

"That would be best," Noor agrees.

"I'm still a little sore anyway," I confess. "I still want to thank you for helping me out last night. If I hadn't been with you when my tears hit, I might have wound up getting hammered in some seedy bar."

"It's a pleasure to help out a woman as beautiful as you," my former sex partner compliments me.

"Are you a lesbian like me?" I question out of curiosity.

"I love everybody if you get my drift," Noor replies with a wicked grin.

"I think I do," I answer with wide open eyes. "I want to apologize for making a mess in your bathroom. I will pay for the damages if you want."

"Don't worry about it," Noor refused. "I might have gone berserk if I had lost my best friend."

"You sure?" I kept pressing.

"Yeah, I washed your clothes for you," Noor tells me. "You can use my shower if you want. Breakfast should be ready by the time you're done."

"Thanks," I acknowledge as I walk into the bathroom while wiping away a single tear from my face.

All I can think about while I am getting cleaned off is Kat which causes two more tears to fall off my face. I realize that it is not going to be good for me to try temporary fixes like I did last night. I am just going to let nature take it's course. One thing that might help me to heal would be for me to look up some of my old friends back from my City Of Love days. But which friend should I go see? I only have time for one since I have to save Paris again. I think about what I need as I wash the dried blood from my legs. Most friends would drop everything and pick you up off the floor when they see you going through a tragedy like the one I am going through. That is not what I need. What I do need is a tough friend who keeps kicking you until you get off the floor yourself. It would be best if I visit the toughest friend that I've got. It has been much too long since I have seen that spitfire Louise anyway. A very unfriendly voice residing inside my mind tells me that Kat's death is my fault while I am washing my hair which of course makes me cry again.

I certainly don't have a very positive outlook of life as I put on the same clothes that I wore yesterday. At least Noor washed them for me. One thing that does improve my outlook is the large stacks of pancakes that my friend cooked for breakfast. I should say that she cooked them for brunch since it is already 10:30. As soon as my gal pal puts my stack of pancakes in front of me, I wolf them down quickly. I guess it takes energy to rebuild your life from the ground up. After brunch, I give Noor a grateful hug and call for the cab.

While waiting for the cab on the sidewalk, a disturbing thought enters my mind. It was hard enough to defeat Vincent when I was wearing a fully intact suit of armor. How am I supposed to solve this new mystery when my suit of armor now has a large slash right over my heart? How am I supposed to think straight when my eyes are sometimes covered with tears? How am supposed to fight with my psyche in the shape that it is in? I comfort myself with the thought of how much fun it will be to torture Kat's murderer.

The cab ride I take towards my old stomping grounds was largely uneventful. I unfortunately have a friendly cab driver and I am in no mood to talk back. He gets the message when I shoot him a cold leer. When I arrive at City Of Love's main office, I look at my watch and see that the time is now 11:30. I pay my fare and I try to decide what to do until lunch. The pancakes I ate are still weighing heavily on my stomach so I don't want anything to eat now. I head to a nearby park and I buy a large cup of coffee from a vendor. I sit on a remote bench where I can be alone with my thoughts. I also wonder if Louise will take the time to see me since I know how busy she often is. I hope that she will because I sure could use some tough love right now. I think that maybe some alone time will help me to collect my thoughts.

It does not work. After my third gulp of coffee, I quickly set my cup on the ground because I see a redhead with glasses walking on the other side of the park who looks a lot like Kat did before she adopted her tougher image. I wonder if my friend would still be alive if she had stayed the way she was. I watch the woman with my mouth hanging for a minute while wondering if I am completely losing my mind. This incident shoves another knife into my heart so I rest my head on the back of the park bench and start sobbing again. Once again, I think I can almost see a ghostly version of Kat crying with me. After a minute of crying, a hand lands on my shoulder. What is weird about this hand is that even though it is feminine, it is still quite strong. There is only one person that I know with a hand like that. I have found my tough friend. I have found Louise. She says something that makes me stand up and grab her in a desperate hug.

"I'm sorry about Kat."

I am hugging one of my closest and toughest friends Louise Paquier with tears streaming from my eyes. It is kind of ironic that we are as close as we are now since we started out as enemies when I first started working for Raphael's magazine City Of Love. I really can't blame her for protecting what was hers now that I think about it. I found out later that Louise felt threatened by me even if there was no reason to be. There is no way a mouse like me could threaten someone as tough as Louise. Working to stop Vincent from poisoning Paris with his stupid Elixir Of Love really brought Louise and I closer together. Right now, my tough friend is rubbing my back and allowing me to get the back of her shirt wet. My tears stop after a few minutes. My pal helps me to sit back on the bench and gives me a pink handkerchief from her purse so I can blow my nose.

"Wait here while I make a few phone calls and then we can talk," Louise promises me.

"Okay," I respond while trying to give my tough buddy a smile which wasn't very much of one.

I watch my friend as she walks out of earshot and takes her cell phone out of her purse. She looked kind of gruff during the first phone call and of course I am very much used to seeing her that way. I got to see another side of Louise during the other two phone calls since she looked a lot more peaceful. I have always thought of Louise as a pretty woman and she looks almost the same as she did the last time I saw her except for the few wrinkles that she has around her eyes. A slightly bigger smile appears on my face when my tough friend finishes with her phone and walks back to me.

"Are you okay, Connie?" Louise asks me with a look of concern.

"You can call me yo-yo," I answer to make a weak attempt at humor.

"That's to be expected," my gal pal responds.

"I just hope that my string doesn't snap," I warble as my voice cracks.

"At least you aren't trying to get through this by yourself," Louise responds while patting my shoulder.

"I imagine that you are busy," I guessed.

"Actually, I'm not," my friend answered while shaking her head. "I'm taking the rest of the day off of work from my security firm and I made arrangements for Luc to spend the night with a friend."

"You're doing all that for me?" I asked in shock.

"I'm glad to see you," Louise explained. "I really missed you when you ran off to do your Forrest Gump impersonation and I just wish our reunion could have been under better circumstances."

"I just wish that I hadn't left!" I snap.

"We all could tell that you needed to get away from things after Kat dumped you," Louise reasoned while sitting beside me on the bench and hugging me.

"If I hadn't left, I could have seen this coming and put a stop to it!" I yell at myself. "Kat would still be alive!"

"You're being silly!" Louise chides me.

I do not hear what Louise is saying because I am wrapped up in another downfall. I can feel my body tensing up and my voice starting to crack again. It would not take a weatherman to predict that another major downpour is due to happen within the next minute.

"And... and an-another thing, just... just before Kat died she told me that she was going to meet someone," I revealed with much difficulty. "It h-had to have been the k-killer. I offered to go with her, but... but she blew me off and told me to g-go sightseeing. I... I should have put my f-foot down and insisted I... I go with her."

"Kat would have gotten mad at you and went off by herself anyway," Louise protests.

"I... I s-should have shadowed her," I debated.

"The murderer would have probably caught you and killed you as well!" Louise snapped at me.

Louis sighs in frustration as tears start gushing from my eyes again which causes my friend to squeeze me tighter. I am just glad that I have a friend to hold me when I get like this. It takes me at least five minutes to get settled down again at which point Louise does something unexpected. She grabs my right shoulder and lightly shakes me.

"W-what?" I gasp in shock.

"Connie, I want you to listen to me now!" Louise sternly suggests while pointing her right index finger directly at me. "None of us can predict the future no matter how much we would like to. There is no way that you could have known what was going to happen. There is nothing that you could have done to stop it. It is not your fault!"

"I know what you say is true, but..." I start to argue.

"Would Kat like what you are doing to yourself?" Louise asks to interrupt me.

My female buddy's argument absolutely floors me so I can say nothing.

"I am sure Kat would understand it if you were crying because you missed her, but she would not understand you blaming yourself for her death at all," Louise spoke to end the debate.

I know that my gal pal has me beat so I just nod my head. Louise smiles and pats me on the back, but her smile does not last long. She pats my back a few more times which causes a deep frown to appear on her face.

"I have never seen anyone so tense in my life," Louise complains. "I am afraid that you are going to crack. I am very worried about you."

"I appreciate that," I reply with a half smile.

"I think that I should take you for a drive and show you some of the things that I like to do when I get tense," Louise insists while pulling me off the bench with by my right hand and leading me towards her car to show me that I have absolutely no say in the matter.


	3. Relaxation Therapy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I, Connie Addams, am getting so stressed out because of Kat's death that it is starting to affect my health. It is especially affecting my back almost to the point where it is degrading my ability to walk. My tough friend Louise Paquier is taking me out on a day of relaxation to take away some of my stress. Will Louise's care be enough or will I wind up a basket case?

Louise, who used to be one of my bosses at City Of Love, is taking me on an adventure to get me to loosen up. I sure could use an adventure like this since I have been wound up as tight as a spring ever since Kat's death. If anything else goes wrong for a while, I might just snap into a million pieces. My biggest problem with tension is that my back is almost too stiff for me to move. This is one reason I am very grateful to Louise for what she is doing for me. Blowing off some steam would sure do me some good before I go back to my detective work. While walking towards Louise's Porsche, I think about how Noor told me how I would only get myself killed if I didn't have my head in the game. She was right of course. Louise opens the passenger door for me and then gets in the driver's seat. Before we leave, there is something I feel I must get off my chest.

"Louise, could we talk about something before we go?" I ask.

"Sure," Louise responds to me with a smile while taking her right hand off the ignition key and turning towards me.

I feel a little embarrassed about what I have to say so all I can do is blush at first. What if Louise doesn't understand why I sometimes see Kat's ghost when I am stressed out? How can she when I do not understand it either?

"Connie, we are friends!" Louise insists while rubbing my left arm. "I want you to be able to tell me anything."

"I think I am going crazy," I confess to my friend at great risk of judgment and the potential scorn of my friend.

"Why?" Louise wonders.

"Sometimes when I am crying, I almost think that I can see Kat's ghost crying with me," I explain. "It almost seems so real to me that I feel that I can touch her."

"That does not make you crazy!" Louise objects.

"Are you sure?" I whine in doubt.

"Of course you aren't!" Louise confirmed with a hug. "Stress can cause us to see all sorts of weird things."

"Do you believe in ghosts?" I persist.

"That's a tough question," Louise ponders. "I do believe that you seeing Kat's ghost is just wishful thinking on your part, but I know that there is a lot of weird stuff in this world that we don't understand. Whose to say whether or not ghosts exist?"

"It is comforting to me that you feel that way," I respond with a smile since I know that Louise won't arrange for me to be fitted for a straight jacket.

"Is there anything else you need help with?" Louise probes.

"I was crying at the park because I saw someone who looked like Kat," I let go. Each confession that I make to my friend is like another weight being lifted off of my shoulders. "I almost felt like running over to her until I remembered that Kat was dead."

"I can understand how that would happen, and that doesn't make you crazy either," Louise consoled me.

"It makes feel a bit better to have someone to talk to about these things," I mention to give thanks to my buddy.

"It is my pleasure," Louise replied with a wave of her hand.

"I think that I am all talked out for now," I comment.

"In that case, I think that you could use someplace fun to eat lunch," Louise suggests while starting her car. "I can show you Luc's favorite hobby while we are there. I really think that it will help you work off some of your tension."

"Sounds good," I relent.

I find myself enjoying the scenery while my gal pal drives me who knows where. Wherever she is driving me, I doubt that I could find my way back to this path by myself. After fifteen minutes, Louise pulls into a parking lot that features a festive building with clowns painted on it. I just bet that Louise has been here many times with her son Luc. As I walk to the front door and open it, I hear the sound of many arcade games assaulting my ears. I haven't played one of these games since I was a kid growing up in the States. That was a time when my life was simple. It was long before I worked for Raphael and Louise at City Of Love. It was before... before... I don't even want to think about it! It's too painful! Louise must be able to read my mind since she is already rubbing my back. Her magic touch heals me to the point where I don't have to cry. When my friend sees that the mini-crisis has been averted, she leads me to the dining area which does not blot out the sound of all of the games. We sit at a table and wait for a waiter.

"Hello, Louise!" the gray haired waiter who is wearing a red jacket and black pants calls out. "Where's Luc?"

"He's staying with a friend tonight, Pierre," Louise informed the waiter who seemed to be her friend. "Meet my friend, Connie."

"Hello, Connie," Pierre acknowledges me while shaking my hand.

"Hi," I quietly reply.

"Are you okay, Connie?" Pierre probed.

"Why do you ask?" I reply defensively.

"People usually give me stronger handshakes than that," Pierre points out.

"I've had a bad couple of days," I grumbled.

"We'll have a supreme pizza with everything and a pitcher of diet coke," Louise orders.

"It will be ready in fifteen minutes," Pierre the waiter informs us.

"That should be enough time for you to play a few games," Louise suggested.

"I could use some fun in my life right now," I comment with a frown.

I got up to buy a dollar's worth of quarters. I look around at all the games and decide what game I want to play most. I was a bit of a Pac-Man wizard when I was a kid. The game is a bit easier if you know certain patterns. It has been years since I have played so the patterns are gone which means I will muddle through the game. The first two mazes were easy which enabled me to do a little dance during the intermission just like I did when I was a kid. I guess I got a little bit cocky during the third maze because I quickly got chomped. I still did respectable for not playing the game since I was a kid and met my game over during the eighth maze.

I looked at my wristwatch and discover that I have five minutes to kill so I look for something else to do. I see a karaoke machine which immediately caught my eye. I put a quarter in the slot and I scroll through the list of available songs. I see Roxette's "It Must Have Been Love" and I just know it is just the song for me considering the mood I am in. I begin the song by pushing the start button. I pour my entire self into the song. I pour all of my sadness and all of my anger into the song. I especially let it go during the chorus.

It must have been love but it's over now. It must have been good but I lost it somehow. It must have been love but it's over now. From the moment we touched 'til the time had run out.

I do not realize that my singing is attracting a fan following. My only concern is if I can sing loud enough so that Kat will able to hear me in Heaven. This is my way for me to let Kat know how much I loved her and how much I miss her. I am singing this song to honor my pal's memory and to let go of some of my feelings so they won't overwhelm me. What I don't know is that the spectators most interested in my performance are Louise and her friend Pierre.

"Louise, did your friend lose someone important recently?" Pierre guessed.

"Her best friend," Louise grumbled.

"Her friend was murdered, wasn't she?" Pierre went on.

"How did you know?" Louise gasped.

"I have heard a lot of performances in all the years I have worked here so I have become a bit of an analyst," Pierre explained. "I can hear such anger in poor Connie's singing. Anger like that can destroy a person. I would take special care of her if I were you."

"I intend to," Louise agreed.

At the end of my song, I turn around and receive a huge round of applause from all the people in the arcade not playing games. I take my bow and meet up with my buddy Louise to see if our pizza is ready.

"I had no idea that you were such a great singer!" Louise complimented me to try and get my mind off of my troubles. She failed miserably.

"Louise, do you think Kat heard me from up in Heaven?" I ponder.

"Yes, I do!" Louise emphatically replied while hugging me. "It's time to eat."

I go back to the dining room with my good friend. I am a little winded from my blazing karaoke performance, but the four slices of pizza that I eat rejuvenates me. I offer to pay for half of the pizza, but Louise wouldn't hear of it. After the pizza is paid for, my gal pal walks me to the back of the arcade.

"Now, I can show you what we really came here for," Louise speaks while leading me through a double glass door.

I find a batting cage when we exit the arcade. At first we enter the control room where all of the supplies are kept. I put a helmet on for protection and pick up a bat. Louise puts in a couple of dollars for me and then I head out to work off some tension.

"I'll put it on slow pitch for you," Louise tells me.

I walk up to home plate and imagine I am playing in the majors. It has been a long time since I have done this so I miss the first couple of pitches and I foul off the third.

"Hold the bat steadier," Louise advises me.

My friend's advise seems to do the trick and hit three balls high on the back wall of the batting cage. At first, I am having a lot of fun, but then I experience a major problem. I retreat into my mind and I picture myself chase down Kat's killer with this baseball bat. I want to kill the psycho so badly. I corner the worthless snake in an alley. I get closer and closer. I get a maniacal grin on my face. The killer begs for mercy so I laugh. I picture myself going after Kat's killer and knocking his head clear off of his shoulders with the bat I am swinging. I foul off the next pitch, but then I can't hit anything because I am swinging too wildly.

"What are you doing? Don't swing so hard!" Louise yells at me.

I don't hear my buddy because I accidentally walk into the path of the next pitch and get hit in the arm for my trouble which causes me to sit on my rear in shock. Louise hits the abort button and rushes out to rescue me.

"Are you okay?" Louise screeches.

"Yeah, I guess," I whine.

"I guess the batting cage wasn't a good idea," Louise observes with a frown. "Now, it's time for me to show you what I like to do to relax."

Soon after the batting cage incident, Louise ushers me into her car where I notice a small welt appearing on my arm. This is proof positive that people with damaged mental states should not be in a batting cage. I was really having fun at first, but then I lost all track of reality. I went into this dark place where I was chasing down my best friend's killer with the baseball bat that I was holding. I chased the murdering psycho into an alley which meant the scumbag had no place to go to get away from me. I patted the bat onto my hand to demonstrate what I was going to do. I advanced towards the killer with an evil smile on my face. The killer begged for mercy and I laughed maniacally. I swung the bat and I avenged my best friend. This is when I got a wake-up call when the baseball hit my arm and knocked me down. Now that I am back in the car, I realize that nothing has changed. I am still out for revenge. Some people might see what happened in the cage as a sign to change their life, but I just do not see it that way. I look up as my friend Louise gets into her car and looks at me.

"I know that you are going to get through this," Louise promises.

"How can you be so sure?" I ponder with the look of a skeptic.

"I lost my grandmother ten years ago," Louise revealed. "I know someone didn't savagely take her from me like someone took Kat from you, but it still hurt me for a long time. I could do nothing else but cry for a week. Eventually, I healed to the point where I did not have to cry anymore. That was when I knew that I could get on with my life. That is how I know that you will get through your pain and you will become stronger because of it."

"I wish I could be sure about that," I complained. "I never knew that it was possible for someone to hurt so much. I think that I have cried more in the past couple of days than I have cried in my life."

"Just don't try to do too much by yourself," Louise advised. "Never turn down the help of a friend when they offer it."

"What scares me is that it was hard enough to beat Vincent with all of my faculties in working order," I complain. "I am going to find a way to solve a mystery that is even more dangerous while fighting against my broken heart at the same time."

"Connie, you are a lot tougher than you give yourself credit for," Louise chastises me.

"I hope you are right," I sigh.

The conversation ends when Louise starts her car and drives off. I know that she is taking me somewhere to relax, but that is all that I know. A very small part of me is feeling guilty for taking this day off when the person who took Kat away from me is running loose on the street, but I know that I am going to get both of my oars back into the water if I am going to have a chance at solving this mystery in one piece. I think back to all the Nancy Drew books that I have read in my lifetime and I wish that my life could be as simple as Nancy's is.

Louise takes me to a two story building that is painted to look like a tranquil seascape. Whatever happens in this building, just the sight of this building is melting away some of my tension. As soon as Louise leads me inside, I see that she has brought me to a wellness spa. There are couches in the waiting area that almost look like clouds and I can hear the most calming of music being piped through the intercom system. I can also hear the receptionist verifying our appointment with Louise.

"We have a room set up for you and your guest, Louise," the female receptionist with short brown hair announced.

"Thank you," Louise acknowledged. "Connie will need Alicia to take care of her. This is code five."

What is my friend talking about? I can understand her recommending a masseuse for me since I get the impression that she has been here many times, but what is this "code five" business. Is Louise suggesting that Alicia take it easy on me or to play rough. I think about asking Louise this, but I settle for a simple raise of my left eyebrow. I get a good clue when Louise sees my reaction and comes over to speak to me.

"Connie, when we go in for our massages, all that you have to do is relax and let Alicia take care of you. She is the best that they have and she will fix your stiff back."

"I sure could use it," I reply.

My friend escorts me into the women's changing room that is divided into separate locker rooms. I take off all of my clothes and put them in a locker. I put on one of the spa's robes and then meet up with Louise who is also wearing a similar robe. We go back to the main area and the receptionist escorts us to an available massage room. I go behind a changing screen and trade my robe for a long towel. I lay on one of the two tables in the room and find out that Louise has done the same thing that I have. I briefly look over at my benefactor and get a hot flash since she is just wearing a towel. I am blushing because I am having impure thoughts about my friend. There is no denying that I want to do naughty things with Louise.

We hear a knock on the door and Louise announces that we are ready. Two women walk in who are wearing white uniforms. Louise's masseuse has short blonde hair and Alicia has long brown hair. Alicia comes over and moves my towel just enough to expose my back. I let out a nervous breath because I have never had a professional massage before. Alicia takes it easy on me at first and then goes to work on me. I can feel my masseuse masterfully move all of my muscles to their proper positions. I cannot help but moan a little. I am thoroughly enjoying my massage as I feel all of my tension temporarily leave my body. I become so relaxed that I fall asleep.

When I wake up, I am in the copilot seat of a private airplane. I look to my left and I see my best friend Kat sitting in the pilot seat. I have not been in a plane with Kat in over two years.

"It makes me happy to be flying with you, Kat," I comment with a warm smile.

Kat smiles at me and puts the plane into autopilot. She walks over to me and I start blushing profusely. As my friend straddles my lap, I moan in anticipation. She puts her arms around me while giving me her hottest kiss. Our tongues soon fight for dominance. I get caught up in the moment and feel up Kat's breast while she nibbles my ears.

"I wish that we had done this sooner!" I complain.

"Undress me please!" Kat insists.

I have my hands on my lover's shirt and am just about to take it off when our lesbian romp is interrupted by a loud screeching noise which is shortly followed by a large object colliding with the back of our plane. Someone has shot our plane! Our plane is shaking and quickly becoming hard to control which causes Kat to scramble back to her seat.

"Connie, I want you to eject and let me land the plane by myself!" Kat insists.

"No way!" I argue. "We will have a better chance of landing the plane together!"

"I won't have you endangering yourself on my account!" Kat snapped.

"Damnit! Don't make me leave! I love you!" I scream at my best friend.

"If you don't eject, I will eject your chair for you!" Kat demands.

Kat reaches for her control panel to make good on her threat. I jump out of my chair to stop her, but Kat jumps up and punches me in the nose so hard that it sends me flying back into my seat. Before I can do anything else, Kat pushes her button to send me flying out of the plane with me screaming at my buddy not to make me leave her. When my seat clears the plane, a parachute pops out to slow my descent. I am absolutely helpless to do anything but watch as Kat's plane flies out of control into a mountain. The plane erupts into a fireball leaving no trace of it behind. It is over. Kat is dead. As I float towards the ground, my entire body turns into glass and shatters into a million pieces.

"NO!" I scream as I wake up on the massage table. I had enjoyed my massage so much, but that is over now. I am so broken up because of my nightmare that I start crying on the table.

Are there forces in this world that exist solely to destroy me? If such forces do exist then they are doing a great job. I wonder just what I did to deserve my whole life falling around my eyes. Now, I am lying face down on a massage table and I am wearing nothing but a towel. I am so embarrassed because I am crying my eyes out. My masseuse Alica is helplessly standing behind me because she doesn't know what to do.

"I was trying to wake you, miss, but you wouldn't wake up," Alicia explains. "I was afraid that I was going to have to call an ambulance."

"I think that the massage is over," Louise ordered to get our attendants to leave.

Louise walks over and strokes my hair while I get the table all wet. Each time that I have an attack like this, I feel another piece of myself fall away. If this keeps up for much longer, there won't be anything left of me. It seems like forever until my tears stop again. When they finally do, there is nothing else for us to do but get dressed and pay our bill so we can leave. Again I offer to pay half, but my friend will not hear of it. I am starting to get a little bit of a blush because of the attention Louise is giving to me. Of course, I am already embarrassed because of my breakdown on the massage table. I am also embarrassed because of all of the other breakdowns I have had lately. As soon as I return to my friend's car, I rest my head on the dashboard.

"What's wrong?" Louise implores while rubbing my left shoulder.

"I am so embarrassed!" I whine out.

"Why?" Louise probes me.

"I really enjoyed that massage," I explained. "But then the reality of the situation caught up with me and made me break apart in front of strangers."

"Hey, you had a terrible thing happen to you!" Louise debated. "No one would blame you for crying after what you have been through!"

"I guess," I sigh.

"Tell me about your nightmare," Louise requests.

"I can't!" I refuse. "It's too painful!"

"Do you want to know the way to heal from something like this?" my gal pal wonders.

"Sure," I relent.

"I can tell that you have so much emotion trapped inside of you," my former boss observed. "If you want to heal then it all has to come out, every last bit of it. I know that letting it out will hurt you a great deal, but it will hurt you so much more if you hold it in."

I bow my head a little so I can think. I know that Louise is not going to give up. In all the time that I have known her, she never took anything from anybody. I think that trait makes her look sexy. I know how I felt about Louise when she was wearing nothing but a towel. I definitely felt some lust for my friend. I know that these thoughts are pointless since the woman sitting next to me has a son. Women who have kids are not known to paddle their canoes into my end of the lake. But, I still know that I am still going to have to bear my soul to my stubborn friend so I might as well begin.

"My dream did not start as a nightmare," I explain.

"Really?" Louise presses.

"Kat was flying a private jet and I was the copilot," I began. "I told Kat how great it was that I was flying with her again. She put the plane on autopilot and came over to straddle me. We started kissing each other. We were even using our tongues. I told Kat that I wished we had done this a lot sooner. She told me to take off her clothes."

"Ooh, then what?" Louise questioned with a red face.

I was about to tell Louise about my nightmare when I got distracted by Louise's beauty. I think back to when she was wearing nothing but a towel and I start to get aroused. It isn't that I wasn't already aroused by telling my female friend the first part of my dream. I lose all control of myself and quickly kiss Louise on the lips. She gasps and jumps back into the car horn in shock. The sound of the horn jolts me out of my sexual stupor.

"I'm sorry," I apologize. "It's just that I find you attractive and I haven't had very much control of myself lately for the obvious reasons."

I would have never have guessed what Louis was going to do next in a million years.

"You don't have to be sorry," Louise chastised me while reaching for my left breast and fondling it which made me suck in a breath in shock. "I have always found you attractive. You have always had such a spark in your eyes that made you look like that you could do anything."

"Uh," I choke out while Louise starts rubbing my right breast as well.

"You know, Noor told me that you aren't exactly against having sex in public," Louise confessed which made my eyes bug out.

What do I say to Louise? I can't even think because of what she is doing to my breasts. I can't say that I am against having sex with Louise, but do I really want to do it it in her car where anyone might see us?


	4. Tough Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tensions boil between my tough friend Louise Paquier and I which causes me to seek a new kind of closeness with her. When I start to lose what's left of my sanity afterwards, Louise uses extreme measures to bring me back down to Earth. More than anyone else I know, Louise is a practitioner of tough love.

Louise started rubbing my breasts after I lost control of myself and kissed her. I would be totally jumping at this opportunity if it wasn't for one thing. We are inside Louise's car and it is sitting in the parking lot of the wellness spa where anyone might see us. Equal parts of passion, lust, fear, and shame are fighting a war inside me and it is making my entire body blush. There is no denying that I would love to have sex with the spicy brunette who is massaging my breasts, but do I really want to do this where anybody could see us? I know that I had sex with Noor on the roof of her apartment building where any number of people must have seen us, but I wasn't in control of my actions at the time. I was in so much pain because of Kat's death that I wanted to stop hurting for just one night. I was even too broken up to reciprocate any of Noor's attention so I just laid there and let her do whatever she wanted to me. Whatever I decide now, I better do it quick because Louise is unbuttoning my shirt. I almost think about giving into Louise, but the possible consequences make me change my mind.

"Can we take this someplace private?" I begged my friend.

"I guess so," Louise agreed while returning to her seat. "Although, I am a little surprised about your change in attitude."

"Look, when I had sex with Noor, I wasn't in control of what I was doing," I explained. "I was in shock for two days after I found Kat's dead body on the couch. I don't know why the dam suddenly broke in front of Noor's apartment building, but I had never been in so much pain in my life. I just wanted to do something to get me through the night. If Noor hadn't found me when she did, I probably would have gotten sloshed in some dive bar. When my pain, got to its peak, I took off my clothes and asked Noor to help me. I was in so much pain that I couldn't even give anything back to my lover. She might as well have been having sex with a doll. I am sure that she would have enjoyed it just as much."

"I think that I am beginning to understand, and by the way, Noor told me she did enjoy helping you," Louise mused while starting her car. 

"She did?" I wonder.

"She definitely enjoyed getting to see a hot girl like you naked, and I can understand why," Louise explained with a naughty leer. "I'll take you home with me, but don't think that I have forgotten about you telling me about your nightmare because that is what we are going to do after we have sex."

I didn't bother protesting Louise's threat of making me spill my guts about my nightmare because I know that it would do me absolutely no good at all. All I can do is concentrate on the promise that I am about to make love with this spicy hot fireball who is driving me to her place. I am starting to salivate at the prospect and it is also making my panties wet. By the time we finally get to Louise's place, my panties will probably be soaked. It is seeming to take forever to get there. We finally get to our destination and I see a luxurious blue townhouse. I follow Louise to her door getting all sorts of crazy ideas into my head. As soon as I get inside with my friend and she shuts the door, I ambush her from behind by grabbing her around her stomach and kissing the back of her neck. I have her pressed into the wall as I rub her breasts just like she did to me in her car. I have decided that it is time that I pull Louise's short sleeved shirt with blue and white stripes over her head and throw it to the floor.

I should have known that I wouldn't be able to maintain control of the spitfire that I was making love to for long because Louise quickly spun around and tackles me to the floor. She finishes unbuttoning my shirt which didn't take very long since Louise had already started the job in the car. She took off the rest of my clothes with reckless abandon and she suckled my left breast.

"Louise, you are so hot!" I moaned.

If my friend is getting to see me naked, then it is only fair that I get a good peek at her birthday suit as well. It is going to be hard for me to get a good grasp on Louise because she has such a tight hold on me. I am going to have to use strategy. I wrap my legs around Louise's waist and I twist them while turning my body. Louise lets out a cry of shock when I take over the top position. I can tell that not many of the brunette's dates ever get the upper hand on her. Then again, not too many people ever get the upper hand on the vixen period. As soon as I get Louise naked, I kiss her ravenously and stab my tongue into her mouth.

"Oh, Connie, darling!" Louise squeaked.

I rubbed my buddy's breasts while making sure to tweak her nipples and Louise does the same for me. We also start kissing again while taking care of each others' breasts. We are both going crazy. I cannot help but wonder if this will be more than just a one night stand or will my current lover toss me aside after this. After a lot of moaning, Louise manages to speak.

"That's enough foreplay. There is something special that I would like you to do for me."

"What?" I wonder.

Louise leads me into her fancy bedroom with all of the best sheets and an antique dresser. She opens the top drawer of her dresser takes out a purple strap-on.

"I think you know how one of these things works," Louise comments while handing me the toy.

"Yes, I do," I reply while shoving Louise onto her bed.

I quickly put on the toy penis and climb onto my lover. I know that the time for messing around is over so I quickly slam the toy into Louise and start immediately drilling my sweetie. We both know that it isn't going to be long before we give each other what we want. Louise has her legs wrapped around my waist and we are almost holding on tight enough to break our lover's back. Both of our bodies are completely sweating. Soon both of our eyes roll into the back of our heads when our orgasms hit.

"CONNIE, BABY!"

"AH! LOUISE! YOU SCARLET WITCH!"

After the sex, we hold each other for a few minutes until our breathing and heart rate go back to normal and then my friend says something that rocks my whole world.

"Connie, are you ready for Kat's funeral? It's tomorrow."

"Huh?" I choke out since I had completely forgotten about it. I cannot believe that I would forget something so important. I guess I have a reasonable excuse since this tragedy has turned my mind into glue.

"It looks like it's a good thing that I said something," my friend comments. "You owe it to her to be there."

"I know," I sigh.

"You'll have a good cry and your friends will hug you," Louise consoles me. "It will do you a world of good."

"I guess so," I grumble. "I have one other reason for being there. If I see someone acting weird at Kat's funeral, it might give me a good clue as to who her killer is."

"Hmm, someone acting weird at a funeral?" Louise sarcastically questioned. "I have never heard of such a thing."

"I meant if I see someone acting unfeeling or disrespectful, I might have a clue," I explain.

"You might also look for someone being overly respectful out of guilt," Louise suggested.

"Who ever heard of a respectful killer?" I snap at my naked friend while jumping up and waving my arms. "I am looking for a damn monster!"

"Connie, I know almost nothing about being a detective, but it seems to me that one of the first rules is to be objective," Louise argued as I took the toy penis off of my body and tossed it onto the bed. "You seem to be having a problem with that lately!"

"Why do you think that is?" I yell out as a tear fell down my face. "Why do you think that is?"

"Why are you yelling at me?" Louise shot out at me. "I am only trying to help you!"

I see that I have taken this argument with my buddy too far so I pinch the bridge of my nose between two of my fingers to try and reign in my feelings.

"I'm sorry!" I squeak as tears start flowing again.

"Connie, I realize how much this is hurting you, but you don't want to let this destroy you," Louise cautions while hugging me. "I can see a lot of the things I liked about you slowly disappearing. I see the spark in your eyes slowly dying out and I see your niceness getting replaced by anger. You are scaring me."

Louise holds me for a couple of minutes and then we go back to the living room to put our clothes on. Louise has me sit on the couch which makes me gulp because I know what is coming next.

"Please tell me about what happened after Kat asked you to take off her clothes," Louise instructed.

I am not looking forward to doing this at all because I just know what is going to happen to me when I spill my guts to Louise. A flashback from my childhood encourages me to go ahead. My mother used to make me tell her my nightmares just like Louise is doing now. I have no choice so I go ahead.

"Everything was going great until someone shot our plane. The plane was shaking so Kat hurried back to her seat. She told me to eject from the plane. I told her that we would have a much better chance of landing if we did it together which started a huge argument. Kat was going to eject my seat for me so I jumped up to stop her. Kat punched me so hard, I practically flew back into my seat. She ejected me and my parachute opened as soon as I was clear. I looked up just in time to see her plane collide with a mountain and turn into a fireball. The dream ended with me turning into glass and breaking apart. I shouldn't have let her eject me! I could have stopped it!"

"Now you are blaming yourself for things that happened in a dream?" Louise snapped at me in frustration. "Didn't we already have this discussion?"

"Damnit, Louise!" I object as a tear falls down my face. "I am a human being and not a robot! I cannot turn my feelings on and off simply by throwing a switch!"

"I know," Louise gave in while hugging me for a second. "I'm sorry. I'm not an expert at interpreting dreams, but I think the last part of your dream is a warning of what could happen to you if you let your emotions get you too stressed out. You could crack up."

"I guess so," I conceded.

"I have one more question. What are you going to do when you catch Kat's killer."

"I am going to kill that sicko," I promised.

"That could ruin your life," Louise warned.

"I don't care what happens to me anymore," I responded with a shrug of my shoulders. "I have nothing left to lose."

What Louise did shook me up so much that I did not know what was happening. She gave me a backhanded slap across the face so hard that it knocked me off of the couch and onto the floor. I defended my face with my right hand in case Louise decided to hit me again. I also cower before Louise as she stares daggers into me.

"I can't believe you just said that!" Louise yelled. "Did you really think you have nothing now that Kat is gone? What about all of your other friends? What about Raphael? What about me? If I ever hear you say you have nothing left to lose again, I will personally beat you to a pulp!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes: In the next chapter, it is time for everyone to say goodbye to the dearly departed Kat. Portia seeks to find a special way to say goodbye to the friend she knew her whole life. Opionions are welcome.


	5. Saying Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day that promises to be the saddest day in Connie's live has arrived. It is time for Kat's funeral. Saying goodbye won't be enough for Connie. She wants to find a special way to pay tribute to the love she has lost. It will be a tribute where Connie will sing her heart out and then cry her heart out. Will Connie keep what's left of her sanity on this day of misery?

I am cowering on the floor in front of my angry friend Louise who just slapped me down. She got extremely angry when I said that I had nothing left to lose because Kat is gone. I just hope that my gal pal hasn't given me a black eye since my best friend's funeral is tomorrow. I would hate to have to explain such a thing to my friends at such an event. I am now holding up my right hand in front of my face in case the tempest Louise decides to strike me again. I see that I have nothing to worry about when the expression on her face softens and she sits down to hug me.

"Connie, I'm so sorry!" Louise whines.

"Don't be," I reply. "I think I needed that."

"You needed me to hit you?" Louise wondered.

"Maybe not exactly that," I mentioned. "I needed a tough friend to take care of me."

"Why wouldn't any of your other friends fit the bill?" Louise probes with a confused look on her face.

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day," I cite. "Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime."

"What does that have to do with me?" Louise asked because she still did not get it.

"When most friends see you going through a tragedy like this, they would give you a fish," I explain. "That is not what I need because I forgot how to fish when I found Kat's dead body. I need a tough friend like you to teach me how to fish again."

"I don't think that you forgot how to fish," Louise debated. "That knowledge just got shoved to the back of your head. I am sure that you will be able to fish when you need to."

"I only hope that you are right," I reply with a cracking voice.

"You don't give yourself enough credit," Louise complained while rubbing my right shoulder. "You had to have been tough to solve all of those mysteries abroad. You are a regular Nancy Drew."

Am I like Nancy Drew? I sure don't feel like it. If I was, I would have caught the killer by now and turned that miserable wretch into mulch. I know that Nancy Drew has never killed anyone, but ever since I found my friend's body, a white hot fire of rage has been eating away at me. I feel that there is only one way to put out that fire. I want revenge. Besides, I wonder if Nancy would want to kill if someone offed her boyfriend Ned or her friends Bess and George.

It is not only the killer that I am angry at. I am angry at myself. No matter what Louise says to me and no matter how hard she hits me, I cannot escape the fact that I should not have left Kat alone at that crucial time when she told me she was going to meet someone. Even though my Spidey senses were tingling, I let Kat convince me to go sightseeing just because I hadn't seen Paris in a long time. I should have followed my best friend covertly. This is a mistake that I will regret for the rest of my life. Would Nancy Drew have made a mistake like that? I doubt it. Now, I know that it is time to stop this pity party long enough to say goodbye.

"Can you call a cab for me?" I requested while finally picking myself up off the floor. "I need to buy myself a funeral dress."

"I have a suitable outfit that you could borrow to save you some time," Louise insisted. "You look like you should be able to wear my clothes, but come with me to try it on just in case."

"Thanks," I reply while following Louise back into her bedroom.

My good friend opened up her closet and unzipped a plastic garment bag. She took out a plain black dress with long sleeves and handed it to me along with a pair of black hose. I stripped down to my underwear in front of Louise since the fact that I had sex with her took away the need to be shy around her. I put on the hose along with the somber frock and turned around so Louise could zip the dress up. My buddy handed me a pair of black shoes to complete the outfit. I examined myself in front of a long mirror and saw that everything fit well. It is good that Louise and I are about the same size.

"I better iron the dress for you before you leave," my helper ordered.

I changed back into my normal clothes and handed the dress back to Louise. I sat on the bed patiently while my helpful pal took out an ironing board and ironed out the creases. I knew that I was fortunate to have this friend in my life. If she wasn't, then I would be in an bigger mess than I am now if that is even possible. As soon as she was finished, Louise put the clothes that I would be wearing tomorrow back into the bag. She called a cab for me and I hugged her for being such a great friend.

I went outside to wait for a cab to take me to Raphael's place where I am currently staying. Now that I am by myself again, doubts about myself begin to fill my brain. I blot them out by thinking about what I want to do at Kat's funeral. I want to say goodbye of course, but that is not enough. Kat and I grew up in the States together. She knew me better that I knew myself. I need a way that I can pay a special tribute to her. As I ride in the cab and travel towards my temporary lodgings, I decide what I want to do. I will sing Kat's favorite song so loud that my message will reach her up in Heaven. I soon arrive at my destination just in time to hear the phone ring. I hate it when the phone rings just when you are trying to get into your home.

"Hello?" I ask after rushing to pick up the phone.

"How are you holding up, Connie?" my friend Leo asked.

"About as well as can be expected with a hole the size of the Grand Canyon in my heart," I grumble.

"Would you like a ride?" Leo asked.

"Yes, please," I acknowledge.

"Tristain will pick you up at eight in the morning," Leo reveals. "Is there anything special that you want to do for Kat?"

"I am going to sing her favorite song Total Eclipse Of The Heart!" I emphatically state.

After a totally uneventful day of television watching, I go to sleep. That does not mean that my night is uneventful. I wish that it was for I am now chasing down a hooded figure dressed all in black. The figure is wearing a black cape with gold trim. I want so bad to catch to this mysterious figure because I know that it is Kat's killer. I want justice for Kat. No, I want revenge for myself. I cannot deny it. The thought of revenge has monopolized my life lately. I am so mad that I cannot think straight sometimes. I am feeling a stitch in my side from all the running I am doing, but I don't care. I will chase the figure to the ends of the Earth if I have to. Finally, the mystery villain has to stop because of a giant black cliff face. I think that my fight is finally going to be over when the villain draws a red light saber.

"You will never defeat me!" the figure cackles in a robotic voice.

"YOU KILLED KAT!" I scream in rage while drawing a yellow light saber.

I engage in the fight of my life as our weapons clash with small flashes of light. The monster is able to match me move for move. Just when it seems that I am about to get the upper hand in the fight, the evil one quickly moves its hand at me which makes me fall down hard to the ground. As soon as I get up, an invisible force chokes me. I see spots in front of my face as I concentrate all of my mental powers on the offending hand and knock it aside.

"Enough tricks!" I demand while charging my foe. "We end this now!"

I charge the jerk in a blind rage. A few more saber clashes ensue and then I find an opening. I use the opportunity to elbow the creep in the stomach which enables me to end the wretch's existence forever with one last swing. I bend over and pull off the victim's mask and discover that my face is behind the mask. I quickly jolt up in bed with a frightened gasp to discover that the fight is all a dream. What does it all mean?

I look at my digital alarm clock and I discover that I still have two more hours until my ride comes to take me to a place where I know that I will cry my eyes out. I know my emotions are too amped up to get back to sleep. I know that I might as well start getting ready so I take off my white negligee and hop in the shower. I think about Kat while washing myself which causes a couple of tears to fall down my face.

I think one of the things that hurts me the most about my best friend's death is that I will never know if we would have gotten together. I know Kat turned me down, but there was a time when I was fighting to stop Vincent's schemes when Kat and I shared a very romantic kiss. One minute it seemed like we were going to be girlfriends and then she dumped me. That was why I got so upset and imitated Forrest Gump's running scene because of my friends refusal. I was so confused and hurt.

Thinking about that time of my life caused a fantasy to appear in my brain. I picture Kat and I passionately kissing in her apartment like we couldn't get enough of each other. I drop my wash rag and start rubbing my breasts as I imagine myself taking off all of Kat's clothes. I get extremely wet as I see in my mind her undressing me. We fall down on her bed and rub each others' breasts which causes me to start rubbing my pussy in real life. I get so hot as I imagine my sweetie eating me out that I slide down the shower wall while masturbating furiously and moaning my darling's name. I cum when I start fantasizing about Kat and I scissoring each other.

I know that is never going to happen now so I know that I might as well finish washing up. I get done in a hurry and turn off the water. I put on deodorant and the clothes Louise loaned me. I see from my clock that I have 45 minutes to get ready so I round up my portable stereo and the proper CD. I play through once to make sure that the everything works fine including the microphone. I also practice the song a couple of times. I am just glad that this stereo is waterproof or I might get electrocuted later. I make sure that I have plenty of pink handkerchiefs with me because I am already getting stressed out and I haven't even left the house yet.

I wait the last few minutes in a red recliner until the doorbell rings. I gather up my stereo and open the door to find Tristan dressed as shabbily as he always is. Sometimes I think of him as a hobo even though I know he is wealthy. I think about giving him a piece of my mind, but I hold my tongue. That does not stop me from giving my friend a bit of an angry look. I am sure that he got my message since he is taken aback at first.

"How are you, Connie?" Tristan wonders while hugging me. At first I don't want to hug him because of the way that he is dressed, but I know that I am going to need all of the hugs I can get today if I am going to keep what's left of my sanity intact.

"Take a wild guess!" I snap.

"I... uh..." Tristan babbles like an idiot.

"I am sorry for being so flippant with you, but I am getting tired of people asking me that question when they ought to know how I'm feeling," I try to explain.

"It's okay," my male friend accepts while patting my left shoulder. "You look nice by the way."

"Thanks," I reply.

I load my equipment into the back seat of Tristan's car and then I sit in the passenger seat. As Tristan drives toward the funeral, I recall one of my favorite memories of Kat. During our Senior Prom, Kat requested that the disc jockey play her favorite song "Total Eclipse Of The Heart". Once the song started playing, she dragged me out onto the floor and insisted that I dance with her. We had the most fun making up our own dance moves. Some people called us nerds because of that, but we didn't care. Kat played that song so many times for me at her house that it is forever etched into my brain. That is how I know that I will be able to sing the song no matter how addled my mind is.

"Connie... Connie..." Tristan utters as he tries to cut into my memory.

"Huh?" I ask as I snap out of it.

"We're here," Tristan announces somberly.

I get my equipment out and turn around to once again feel my heart does a jump inside me. I am in a park and the first thing I see is Kat's coffin which immediately causes my face to get wet. I wipe it with one of my handkerchiefs and I decide that now is as good as time as any to say my final goodbye to my best friend. I walk towards her coffin and I am intercepted a number of times by some of my friends offering hugs and warm wishes. Even Raphael is there since he is such a good friend of mine. When I finally get to my goal, I set my player on the ground and I put my hand on the casket as a tear falls to the ground.

"It wasn't supposed to be this way, was it? Kat, I want you to know that I will always love and remember you. I miss you so much it hurts. I also want you to know that I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let you go off to that meeting by yourself when I knew that something wasn't right. I should have shadowed you. I failed to protect you and I am sorry. I swear to you that I will find whoever did this and I will make the coward pay even if I have to use my last breath to do it."

I turn around and I wipe away three more tears and blow my my nose. It looks like it is time to retire this hankie already and start on a clean one. I just hope that I brought enough.

"That is a nasty case of survivor's guilt, Connie," my blond and scraggly friend Leo admonishes me from behind while putting a hand on my right shoulder. "It isn't healthy and Kat wouldn't want you to feel that way."

"It isn't fair!" I cry out.

"It never is," Leo agrees while giving up trying to argue with me since he knows that it would cause a scene. "Since you have something special planned, would you like to go first?

"Yes, please," I accept.

I don't hear any of Leo's introductory speech because I am engaged in a round of deep breathing to calm my nerves. As soon as Leo announces me, I put in the CD and turn on the microphone.

"I am here to pay homage to my best friend Kat Hong. I have known her practically my whole life since we grew up together in the States. I am extremely grateful for helping me through many science courses since it was never my best subject. We helped each other through so many other scrapes growing up. I wanted to come up with a special way to say goodbye and could come up with only one way of doing it. I am going to sing Kat's favorite song 'Total Eclipse Of The Heart'. I can only hope that you can hear me sing this to you, Kat."

I push play on the stereo and the song begins. I am using a karaoke CD so that I wouldn't have to sing over Bonnie Tyler's voice. The song starts out steady and requires more energy as the song goes on. I am pouring my entire self into this song and I am really feeling a strain on myself halfway through the song. No matter how hard this endeavor gets for me, I have promised myself that I will get through this for my pal. I can feel my eyes start to get moist when I sing the chorus since that is the part of the song that requires the most energy. I can almost think that I can see Kat's ghost sitting in the audience while I am singing. After I finish, I do not hear the polite applause because my entire body is being overcome with tears. Leo puts his arm around my back and helps me to a chair so I don't collapse to the ground.

I am not aware of anything else that happens during the services because I am too tired and too upset to care. A few people make speeches and everything ends with Kat's burial at the cemetery which causes me to start bawling again. What I do know is that my friends who are there all want me to spend the rest of the day with them. Tristan and Leo both want me to go to a bar so we can all drink our pain away. My older acquaintance Alia wants me to go to her place so she can cook dinner for me. Maybe I just want to be by myself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two friends take Connie to a bar in the next chapter to drink their pain away. When that doesn't work, a female friend throws Connie a more attractive lifeline. When Connie's friend Sarah finishes bolstering her damaged spirits, Sarah offers Connie a deal that might change the course of her whole life depending on whether or not Connie takes the deal.


	6. Sarah's Deal Of Redemption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo and Tristan take a grieving Connie to a bar so they all can forget their troubles. Even when Leo and Tristan's medicine seems to be working, reality sets in and Connie's emotions take another nose dive. Out of desperation, the boys make one last attempt to pick poor Connie up off the floor. They send Connie up to a special room to meet Sarah who waiting to give Connie medicine that she will find a lot more appealing. After Sarah bolsters Connie's spirits a little, she turns her world upside down with a life changing deal.

Kat's funeral is over and I am standing by myself in the cemetery with my right hand on my forehead. I am crying my eyes out and I don't think that I will ever be able to stop. I have never cried this much in my life. I am feeling as if some unknown person took a knife and cut my heart out of my chest. That person is the same person who killed my friend. I did not fire the first shot in this war, but so help me, I will fire the last. I will find the miserable excuse for a person, and when I do, that person's life won't be worth a plug nickel. After about ten minutes when my tears finally start to die down, I feel a masculine hand patting my back. I look behind me and I see Tristan. I am still miffed that he wore his usual ratty clothes to Kat's funeral. Who wears clothes like that to one of these somber occasions?

"You shouldn't let this drive you so crazy, Connie!" Tristan admonished me. "Life is for the living."

"Who are you to say how I should feel?!" I snap. "And another thing, where do you get off dressing like that to a funeral?! Don't you have any respect for Kat?!"

"Hey, I loved her too!" Tristan snapped back at me.

"You have a funny way of showing it!" I yell at my friend because I am completely losing it.

"Hey, I don't have to take this garbage!" Tristan shouted back at me with our eyes only a foot apart.

"You'll take it and like it!" I argue with my hands balled up into fists.

"Oh, yeah?!" Tristan shot back at me. If looks could kill, we would both be dead by now.

"Oh, good comeback!" I snarl while rearing back my right hand in the hopes of giving Tristan a black eye.

"What's going on here?" Leo my scraggly blond friend interjects while stepping in between us to cut off my line of fire which made me bring my fist down. It's a good thing that he did because there would have been no telling what we would have done to each other if he hadn't.

I look at Leo and I see that he is dressed almost as poorly as Tristan. I cannot get mad at Leo since I know that he is strapped for cash. Tristan, on the other hand, does not have that problem so he has no excuse.

"Oh, not much!" Tristan snaps at Leo. "Miss Prissy thinks she is the fashion police!"

"I don't think that she means to be this crabby about clothes," Leo explains. "Connie had a terrible thing happen to her."

"Yeah, I know," Tristan conceded.

"Connie, are you really this mad at Tristan?" Leo probes.

"No!" I whine while pinching my nose to gather my feelings as a single tear runs down my face. "I'm sorry!"

"It's okay," Tristan gave in while putting his arms around me which causes me to to the same to him. "I didn't handle the situation well either."

"We better get out of here," I insist. "If I am in this cemetery another minute, I will go nuts."

"Let's go to a nearby bar and get some pain killers," Tristan suggests.

"That sounds good," I agree.

"We'll take my car," Tristan suggests.

We all get in Tristan's car which almost looks as shabby as he is dressed. I wonder why my black haired friend would live like that, but I remember I magazine article that I read I long time ago that was about the Howard Hughes syndrome. That is a condition where a rich person can't help but live like a pauper. I think that is what is wrong with Tristan although I am not a psychiatrist. This revelation convinces me to take it easier on my friend. I am relatively calmer by the time we arrive at the bar because of this breakthrough.

I enter the bar and I notice that is not the best looking establishment that I had seen. There are a couple of lights that seem to be blinking in Morse code. Furthermore, the tables and chairs are a little run down. I try to ignore this as I belly up to the bar first. Even though I have never drank an alcoholic beverage in my life, I order a beer since my mind has not been operating at peak efficiency lately. I have somehow gotten the idea that getting hammered will help me. My other two friends both order a glass of whiskey and the three of us sit at a table in the center of the room. I try to drink my beer, but I start to choke on it after drinking a couple of swallows. It is a good thing that I wasn't by myself when it happened.

"Take it easy on that stuff!" Tristan warns me while patting my back.

"You have never drank alcohol before, have you?" Leo asks me while holding my hand until my scare passed.

"Is it that obvious?" I joke.

"I think so," Tristan spoke with a smug grin while pulling a deck of cards from his pocket. " I think we should help Connie in some other way since she can't even drink beer."

"Whatever we do, it will still be a temporary fix," I point out.

"Friendship is not a temporary fix, poor girl," Leo lightly debates.

"I realize that," I agree.

"Shall we play some poker?" Tristan asked.

"Sure," Leo and I answer together which caused Tristan to rent some chips from the bartender.

When my brunette male friend got back, we all bought five dollars worth of chips to start the game. Even though all we played was draw poker which is one of my favorite variations, I was still getting creamed. Tonight I have learned that poker is a lot more complicated than I thought. It is not only getting the right cards which I rarely did tonight, it is also making your opponents think that you have the right cards. That is very hard for a person to do if that person has been crying at a friend's funeral and almost gotten into a fist fight with another friend. Because of all this, I was quickly down three dollars. On the last busted flush, I looked around the bar for something that could turn my fortune around. I saw an electric dart board at the other side of the bar and knew I had found it because darts is one of my best games. I let out a sigh to demonstrate my exaggerated frustration.

"I bet you would like to do something else," Tristan offered.

"Yes, please," I respond politely.

"What would you like to do?" Leo probes.

"Darts, I guess," I respond nonchalantly to set my trap.

I volunteer to play last so I can see what I am up against during our game of 501. Tristan had trouble controlling his shots which were going all over the board. Leo is a moderate player so he got a decent score of 50. When my turn came up, I walked up to the line and made Tristan flinch when I sent my first dart into the triple twenty square for sixty points. My second shot just missed the triple square for twenty points, but I made up for it by going back to triple twenty land on my last dart. My total score for my first round was 140.

"Hey, Leo, I think Connie hustled us," Tristan complained.

"Oh, really?" Leo laughed. "I hadn't noticed."

On my next turn, I went back to the line to make my friends beg for mercy when I unfortunately remembered how I got to be so good at this game in the first place. Kat taught me. I dropped the dart I was holding when I went into flashback mode and found myself inside Kat's bedroom during my junior year of high school. Kat would often put her hand on my arm to show me the correct way to throw the dart at her board. Kat's method of teaching not only made me a superb dart player, but it might be part of the reason why I can only date women today.

When I snap back to reality, I sit at a nearby table as two tears come out of my face.

"What's wrong?" Leo asked while patting my back.

"Kat..." I squeak as a third tear falls down my face.

"Did Kat teach you this game?" Tristan quietly barked which caused me to nod my head. "Kat demolished me in a game of darts once. I should have realized the connection when you started doing it to us now."

"I think it's time for our last play," Leo suggests.

"What are you talking about?" I demand.

"Take this key and go up to room 205," Tristan orders me while putting a key on my right hand. "You might find something you like inside."

I start climbing the stairs away from my friends to discover that this is not just a bar, but an inn as well. I soon arrive at the suggested door and unlock it. I open the door to find a hot babe stretched out on the bed and wearing nothing but pink lingerie which exposes her belly button. When the woman smiles at me, I realize that she is one of my friends. I enter the room and lock the door behind me in the hopes of at least having some fun on this dreary day.

I slowly advance toward my dark skinned friend Sarah Zembe who was sitting on the bed and wearing nothing but pink lingerie that is showing most of her legs and her belly button. It is quite clear to me that my frizzy haired friend was interested in having lesbian sex with me because of the way that she was leering at me as if I was a hot fudge sundae. I returned her smile which one of my own to show her that I was indeed interested in some chocolate delight even though I was so tired because of Kat's funeral. I needed something to temporarily blot out the pain of that horrible event since I found out earlier that I couldn't drink alcohol and I knew that my willing friend would fit the bill nicely.

"Tristan was right!" I chirp happily while unconsciously licking my lips. "There is something that I like in here."

"I thought that this would be a nice opportunity for two friends in pain to help each other a little," Sarah explained to me. "It wasn't hard for Tristan and Leo to convince me to take part in their scheme since Kat was my friend too."

"I am grateful to them and to you as well," I reply with a nervous chuckle.

"Why are so nervous? Sarah asked me with her arms folded across her chest. "It won't be the first time that I have seen you naked."

"When have you ever seen me naked?" I spat out in shock since I was wondering if Sarah had somehow bugged my shower.

"I just happen to live across the street from Noor," Sarah revealed looking like the cat that ate the canary.

I am now blushing throughout my body. I knew that it was an extreme possibility that people would see me when I let Noor have sex with me on the rooftop of her apartment building, but I thought it would be just strangers sneaking a peek at our lesbian act. I had no idea that someone I know would see our transgression. Then again, I so off my gourd with grief that I did not care who saw my nude body.

"About that..." I start to let out.

"Hey, there is no need for you to be embarrassed," Sarah comforted me while flirting up a storm with me. "Believe me, you have absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about with a hot body like yours! I got myself off just by watching the two of you. I really found it hot when Noor took your virginity. Besides, I could tell by the pain in your eyes that you couldn't help what you were doing."

"I am surprised that you could see my eyes so well from across the street," I point out as my body starts to return to normal.

"You can with binoculars," Sarah tells me. "I guess that you can say that I am somewhat of a voyeur. Living close to Noor has given me a lot of opportunities for fun."

"I doubt that she had very much fun making love with a lifeless statue," I complained.

"She told me the next day that she did enjoy it," Sarah answered. "She said that it was enjoyment enough just seeing a hot young thing like you naked."

"I am glad that I could give the two of so much pleasure," I let out with just of a hint of sarcasm.

"Noor also told me you completely lost it in her bathroom," Sarah told me with a look of concern.

"Yeah," I choked out while looking down at the floor in shame.

Sarah gave me a very cold and stern look while saying "You really should know that Kat's death is not your fault."

"My brain knows it, but I don't think that my heart has caught up to that yet."

"I think that we have talked enough," Sarah urged while beckoning me with her right index finger.

Since my dark friend's invitation has really increased my interest, I slowly walk to the bed. "First, I should warn you that I probably won't be a whole lot of fun tonight."

My lover shrugs her shoulders as if she doesn't have a care in the world and convinces me to go ahead with the game. "That's okay. I probably won't be any fun either."

I arrive to the bed and bend over to cup Sarah's face with my right hand. I immediately regret bending over since I felt a pop in my back which caused me to collapse on the bed and let a scream. "MOMMY!" I couldn't help but cry a little bit as Sarah started to panic.

"Is it your back?" Sarah demanded to know.

I am feeling so embarrassed by this sudden weakness that all I can offer my ebony flame is a small grunt.

"I think I can help. Do you mind if I take off your dress?"

I look up at my kind gal pal and give her a silent shrug.

I feel Sarah slowly peeling me out of the dress that I had borrowed from Louise inch by inch. She eventually touched my back which made her sigh and lecture me. "You are all tied up in knots. It's no wonder with all the stress that you have been having. I know that you won't even think about doing this until you catch Kat's killer, but you might want to get some professional help." After the lecture is over and my friend has taken my dress off, she starts a massage at my shoulders gradually kneading her way down my back. It is so good that I can't help but moan a little. Sarah seems to know just where to touch me and how hard. At the end of the massage, Sarah complimented me on the singing performance that I had put on during Kat's funeral which made me smile a great deal.

After the pain in my back dies down, I gently get Sarah off me so I can take off the rest of my clothes. She gets the message and takes her underwear off. I wrap my arms around my girl for the evening and kiss her several times. Even though I want to have sex with Sarah, I am afraid that I will hurt myself again. We both know that our tryst is not going to go beyond breast fondling. It is after that when I start to get tired so we turn over and go to sleep. Fortunately, my back is better by the time we wake up. That is when we face each other again. The sight of my friend's face made me feel a little guilty.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't do more."

I look at my lover's smile and knew that she was telling me that I had nothing to apologize for. "You did enough. Noor's description of your body didn't do you justice. I was glad to see it up close without needing binoculars."

"I am glad you approve," I said with a smile.

"Listen, I think that I can take away one of your worries," Sarah began with a frown as if she wasn't sure she wanted to tell me. "I knew that you probably wouldn't be able to search Kat's apartment so I did it for you yesterday. Sometimes even Nancy Drew has to take a step back and let Bess and George run things. Well... I found something hiding under the couch that the police must have missed and I know who killed Kat."

I jumped out of bed as if I was on fire and I could only utter two simple words. "You what?"

"But I don't know if I should tell you," Sarah spoke to cause my jaw to hit the floor. "I heard what you said in front of Kat's casket. If you kill this person, Connie Adams will cease to exist and a monster will appear in her place. I will only show you what I found if you promise to bring in the murderer to the cops."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If Connie takes Sarah's deal, it could start her on the road to recovery. If Connie doesn't take the deal, it could destroy her. Will Connie take the deal? Will Connie finally capture Kat's killer? Read and review to find out.


	7. Connie's Second Downfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ever since Connie found Kat's dead body, Connie has been on a quest to kill the murderer in a very painful and bloody way. Now Sarah is offering to give Connie the identity of Kat's killer, but Sarah will only give up the killer if Connie agrees to bring in the killer alive. Will Connie take the deal or will she steal the evidence by force? What is more important to Connie? Is it revenge or friendship? Even if Connie takes the deal, she might find out that things are not what they seemed with Kat's death. Poor Connie could find out something about her very best friend that is liable to tear her limb from limb. Will Connie manage to hold onto her sanity when she finds out the whole story? Please read and review to find out,

I am naked in a dingy room above the bar that Tristan and Leo took me too. I am looking at my dark and naked friend Sarah Zembe sitting on the bed with me. At first she looked happy to see me, but now she looks calculating. I feel as if she has whacked me in the head with a two by four. At first all I can do is open and close my mouth because of something she said to me. Sarah expects me to spare the life of Kat's killer and if I don't promise to so, she has told me that she will withhold a key piece of evidence from me. This is unbelievable. How can my friend treat me this way? I am so close to the person who tore my heart from my chest and Sarah is keeping me from getting the freaking bozo. I realize that I am about to have it out with my ebony friend so I start putting the funeral clothes I was wearing back on.

"You aren't going to leave without even discussing this?" Sarah shrilly asked.

"I don't like doing business while I am naked," I explained. "It would be extremely distracting for me to look at a hot babe like you naked."

"You really think that I am hot," Sarah gratefully answered.

"Yes, I do," I complimented.

"I agree with your philosophy," Sarah agreed as she put on her underwear and her brown dress.

I finished getting dressed first so I sit in a chair and I wait for my friend to get dressed. I am giving her my best angry look since I am livid beyond belief right now since I feel that my friend is betraying me. I have my arms folded across my chest. I use the next few seconds thinking about what I want to say. When my fully clothed friend sits back on the bed, I say the only think that comes to mind.

"How can you do this to me? You know how much I want to get this monster!"

"I know it doesn't look like it but I am doing this for your own good," Sarah calmly argued. "Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? Revenge doesn't do much for a person's complexion. You could wind up looking like the Ugly Stepmother in Cinderella."

"I could tear the place apart and just take the evidence," I pointed out while beginning to stand up to make good on my threat.

"If you do, our friendship is over!" Sarah threatened. "Think about it! I will never speak to you again! You will be dead to me! Is revenge really worth losing a friend? If it is, I will make it easy for you so won't tear the place apart! It's right under the bed! What is more important, revenge or friendship?"

"Friendship," I sighed as I sat back down in the chair.

"Thank you," Sarah responded gratefully while wiping her brow with her right hand in relief. "Do you promise to bring in the killer?"

At first, I don't know what to say. I pinch my nose to gather my thoughts. What do I want to do? Different thoughts are fighting a war in my mind. Then, I remember the dream I had on the night before Kat's funeral. It was a variation of the vision that Luke Skywalker had on Dagobah during the movie Empire Strikes Back movie. In the vision, Luke killed Darth Vader and saw that he was also Darth Vader. If I kill Kat's murderer, I will become just as bad as the murderer. How could I have been so blind and stupid? I know what I have to do to hold onto what is left of my sanity.

"I promise," I let out as a single tear comes down my face.

Sarah comes over to me so she can wrap her arms around me and squeeze. I reach up and gladly return the hug as another tear comes out of my eyes. My gal pal kindly used her right hand to wipe my tears away. Her treatment convinces me to hug her harder. She hugs me harder in turn. I feel my buddy's warmth and I smell her perfume along with her shampoo. All of those things combined start to turn me on so I start kissing her. I want a second chance at some chocolate delight since I did not have the strength to have any last night. I make my intentions fully known by nibbling on her left ear. Sarah makes her intentions known by moaning her approval.

"Mmm, Connie. I like."

The dark flame's approval sparks me to continue the game by rubbing her breasts over her dress. I delight in hearing my lover's breath speeding up because of what I am doing to her. The darling speeds up my breath by rubbing my breasts. She kisses my neck which makes me go crazy.

"I want more!" I insisted.

"I want you!" Sarah demanded.

I have my lady friend stand up so I can slowly peel down the zipper of her dress. I can hear the sound of the metal almost protesting as the zipper comes down. I slowly peel my sweetie out of her dress and drop it to the floor. I revel in the sight of Sarah's nervous smile as I take of her underwear. I take delight in the cutie's dark breasts and even darker nipples as I stare at her naked body. My breath catches in my throat while my crutch for the day takes off my clothes. I rub her breasts for a while at the same time that she rubs mine. We go to lay back down on the bed together. We kiss each other fervently while pawing each other as if there was no tomorrow.

"TAKE ME, CONNIE!"

"I NEED YOU, SARAH!"

I bite down gently on Sarah's neck and start sucking on it. I start out gently at first and then I speed up the intensity of my vampire impersonation. I really want to give my friend a hickey to mark her as one of my lovers. I feel the intensity of the cocoa beauty squirming and shaking uncontrollably. I wait for a certain warning before I stop.

"I'M ABOUT TO CUM!"

I stop and crawl to the front of the bed while Sarah blares out her objections that I stopped. I turn around and sit on my lover's face so she can eat out my pussy. I don't do anything but enjoy it for a few minutes so my excitement level can catch up to hers because I want us to cum together. At the appropriate time, I bend over to complete the 69 position which drives us both absolutely stark raving mad. We scream and drink each others' fluids when we have our orgasms.

"Ready to find out who Kat's killer is?" Sarah asked me once we lay on the bed and face each other.

"You bet!" I insisted.

"We better put our clothes back on," Sarah ordered. "Some of the things that I need to tell you are intense."

I put my clothes back on after having lesbian sex with my frizzy haired friends Sarah Zembe. I had tried to make love to the Sarah on the night before, but I had a back spasm that ruined the mood. Now that I have gotten the taste of chocolate delight that I so desperately wanted, I feel that I am ready for us to discuss business so I sit down on a unflattering chair in front of the bed. I get a queasy feeling in my stomach as my friend crawls under the bed that we had just made love on and fishes out a lengthy tan envelope. I am getting the feeling that Sarah is going to do a lot more than divulge the identity of Kat's killer. Something tells me that she would not need a envelope that big for a simple piece of evidence.

Sarah reaches into the envelope and takes out a laminated card that is the size of a driver's license and offers it to me with her right hand. Even though my gal pal's hand is covering the picture and the name on front, I can still see the back of the card and my eyes open wide when I see a very familiar emblem. It is the emblem of my former employer City Of Love. I should recognize it since I have mine framed and hanging on my wall. Seeing the card in Sarah's hand brings to me a flashback of a woman who started work at the publishing company on the same day I did. This woman acted like my friend, but she stabbed me in the back at every opportunity. I had thought that she was just scheming ladder climber, but I had absolutely no idea how despicable that monster was. Now the intense pain in my heart has a name and its name is Marion. At least some of my detective instincts have come back.

"I should have known it was Marion!" I snapped while standing up and waving my arms in the air.

"Not bad," Sarah complimented me. "You figured it out without seeing the front of the card. Looks like Nancy Drew is on the mend."

"I hate her!" I cried out while taking the card and putting it into my pocket.

"Remember your promise!" Sarah warned with strong eyes.

"I have never broken a promise in my life and I am not going to start now," I replied while sitting in the chair to calm down.

"I think that is wonderful," Sarah praised me.

"It's the way I was brought up," I explained.

"Come sit on the bed next to me," Sarah ordered. "You aren't going to like what I have to tell you next."

"O-kay," I stuttered while obeying my ebony friend's orders and preparing to have my heart broken all over again. I don't know if I am strong enough to go through another tragedy so soon.

"I am very sorry that you have to see what is inside this envelope because it is going to hurt you a lot," Sarah apologized while rubbing my back. "It is important for you to see it because I found it in a filing cabinet in Kat's apartment. I don't want to send you into battle without you knowing the whole story because that would be dangerous. I will do anything that I can to help after you see these papers. I will even have sex with you again if you want it."

I took the envelope with a shaky right hand and I opened it. I feel that I am looking at a bomb that will blow up in my face. I felt my eyes moistening as soon as I started looking at the papers because they describe a plan to flood the city of Paris. Someone has stabbed me in the heart and this time the person with knife is none other than my best friend Kat. I have no idea what is going on anymore so I fall face down on the bed and start crying which causes Sarah to put her arms around me from behind.

"I am so sorry!" Sarah whined.

"Please tell me that this is a joke!" I pleaded through my tears.

"You know that I would never lie to you!" Sarah debated.

"My entire life is a lie!" I cried out.

"Huh?" Sarah asked.

"All of those fun times that we had when we were kids and all the scrapes we helped each other out of!" I howled. "Was she looking to stab me in the back then?"

"This had nothing to do with you!" Sarah protested. "Something must have happened to her recently."

"I might have been able to help her if I had stayed in Paris!" I blubbered.

"You stop that this instant!" Sarah demanded. "This is not your fault!"

"Do those plans say why she wanted to do this?" I wondered.

"I read them from cover to cover and I didn't see anything," Sarah mournfully replied.

"Now that Kat is dead, I... I will never know why this happened," I complained.

"Kat might have told Marion something before Marion killed her," Sarah pointed out. "That is another reason why you need to spare Marion's life."

"I don't suppose that you know where I can find Marion," I implored while gradually stopping my crying fit. I make myself sit on the bed as soon as my tears stop. Sarah only lets go of me when I stop crying,

"Sorry," Sarah answered while shaking her head.

"I think I know someone who might," I mused while making a face that made me look like as if I was sucking a lemon since I knew that I was going to have to make a deal with the devil.

"Who are you talking about?" Sarah insisted.

"The less you know about what I have to do the better," I grumbled. "After this case is over, I am quitting the the detective game. It isn't fun anymore."

"You shouldn't make such an important decision under stress," Sarah argued. "Please think about it."

"Maybe you're right," I conceded.

"Can I do anything to help before you leave?" Sarah pleaded. "Maybe give you a pick-me-up?"

I thought about all of the problems I had faced within the last day and I realized that I needed a shower before I went into the lion's den. I looked at Sarah and I decided that I would have some fun if I could get her to join me. I started to walk to the bathroom and when I was halfway there, I beckoned my good friend to follow me with my right index finger. She smiled and scampered quickly to catch up. When we got to the bathroom, we took off our own clothes and Sarah turned on the water so we could get in. We immediately steamed the place up by getting our bodies all soapy.

"I am sorry that I threatened to steal the evidence from you," I begged while rinsing the soap off of my partner's lovely body.

"It's okay," Sarah accepted with a smile. "You were just upset."

"I appreciate everything you've done to help me," I confided. "If it hadn't have been for you, I would have turned into a lunatic."

"I am always happy to help a friend," Sarah answered with a hug that smashed our naked bodies together.

As soon as all of the soap was washed away from ourselves, Sarah shocked me by latching her mouth onto my neck.

"Sarah, wait a minute!" I protested.

"Since you give me a hickey, then I should be able to give you one," Sarah explained.

"Ordinarily, I would love for you to give me a hickey, but I don't think it's a good idea right before I go into the lion's den," I explain.

"I understand," Sarah gave in.

I wrap my arms tightly around my lover and give her my best lip lock. I wish I could spend more time on this tryst, but I am more than anxious to catch a bad guy. To that end, I quickly reach for Sarah's love box.

"In a hurry?" Sarah probed.

"I am anxious to settle things," I reveal.

"Okay," Sarah agreed while reaching for my vagina.

It is kind of hard for me to get into the love making this time because there is too much on my mind. I am a little disappointed since sex is usually a lot more fun for me. We soon have our orgasms and I know it is time for me to get ready to fight a bad guy. The show is about to begin and no one had better get in my way during my trip to the big top.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Connie is finally ready to go after Kat's killer, but she has no idea where her most hated enemy is. However, she knows someone who might be able to put her on the right trail. She knows that she is going to have to make a deal with the devil in order to corner her prey. Will this former enemy help Connie or will he set her up for a trap? Connie is going to have to keep her wits about her in order to catch the killer.


	8. On The Prowl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie now knows the identity of Kat's killer along with something very disturbing about Kat herself. The problem is that Connie has no idea where to find the killer, but she knows who would be able to tell her where the killer is. Connie is going to have to make a deal with a devil in order to get the killer. Connie sets off in this chapter to find a middle man.

I on the balcony in Raphael's apartment. I am standing with my hands behind my back and my eyes closed. I am doing this meditation exercise so my mind will focused when I go bring in that snake Marion who is the one who killed my best friend Kat. I need to do this not only for justice but also because I need closure for my troubled spirit. I am hoping that slime ball will have the information that I need so desperately. I need to know why someone I thought I knew my whole life could turn to the dark side so completely or I just might go nuts. If Marion won't give me what I need then I will have to use my own special brand of persuasion which will not be pretty. I am now trying to center myself in the present moment and I am trying to empty my mind of all thoughts. This is not an easy task considering everything that I have been through recently. I had just about gotten all my thoughts in order when my meditation is interrupted by a hand landing on my right shoulder. I don't know if this person is friend or foe so I don't want to take any chances. For all I know, Marion might have come to attack me for some reason. I know I have to act and ask questions later so I grab the hand and yank the person down to floor.

"Hey!" Raphael cried out.

"Sorry," I apologized while helping my former boss up. "It is not wise to sneak up on people."

"I was just checking to see how you were holding up," Raphael explained while brushing off his white shirt. "You looked like you were a bit off."

"I was preparing to go on a very important fishing trip by meditating," I spoke as calmly as I could. "I hope I catch a big one now that I know which fish I want now."

"Oh, you really know who did it?" Raphael probed while patting my back like the concerned friend he was.

"A mutual acquaintance of ours from work," I hinted.

"Marion?" Raphael guessed.

"Bingo!" I cheered.

"I hear that you are out for blood," Raphael observed with a look of deep concern. "Some people are saying that you want to kill Marion."

"A small part of me still is, but I promised Sarah that I would bring Marion in alive and I have never broken a promise," I clarified.

"That would be the best course of action for you," Raphael complemented me while adjusting his glasses with his free hand. "Revenge can warp the best of us. I would hate for you to wind up in prison or in a mental institution."

"However, I did not promise that I would play nice," I mused with a devilish smile.

"Do you know where to find Maid Marion?" Raphael questioned with a smirk on his face.

"No, but I bet I know who does," I contemplated with my arms folded across my chest since I wasn't very happy with what I was going to have to do. "I might have to make a deal with the devil to bring down Marion."

"It's too bad jolly Vincent escaped from prison some time ago or he would be easy to find," Raphael debated. "How are you going to find him now?"

"It shouldn't be too hard to follow his slime trail," I reasoned. "I am going to have to retrace his last known steps."

"But what if Vincent doesn't want to cooperate?" my male friend lectured.

I said nothing but I pounded my fist into my hand a couple of times while narrowing my eyes to make my best angry face.

"Ooh, that would convince me," Raphael replied with a shiver.

"I certainly hope it will convince the snake," I pondered aloud.

"I hope that you will be careful dealing with Marion," Raphael cautioned me. "She used to be just a scheming ladder climber, but now she is a killer. She might have some dangerous surprises waiting for you. What if she has combat training or something?"

"I have some surprises waiting for Marion," I revealed while patting my floral jacket. "Did I ever tell you that I have performed at a few kids birthday parties as a magician?"

"That might come in handy," Raphael agreed with a rueful smile.

"I think that it is time to go to work," I observed while putting one of my high powered flashlights into a duffel bag and picking up the phone to call a cab.

I waved goodbye to my buddy Raph while going outside to await my yellow chariot. While I was waiting, I stretched my arms in front of me and I took several deep breaths to center myself since I am a bundle of nerves at the moment. When I finished meditating, I jogged in place until the cab came to pick me up. I gave the cab driver my destination and then planned my course of attack while sitting in the leather chair. Since I have absolutely no idea where dear Marion was at the moment, I would have to get the info from a person I disliked almost as much. I am feeling like a caged cat at the moment. Soon the cage door will be opened and I will strike.

There was something bothering me. I unfortunately know what Kat was doing when Marion killed her, but why was Marion there in the first place? Was she trying to foil Kat's plans and save Paris? Did she feel that it was necessary to kill to achieve her goal? If that is the case, then Marion was wrong. Nancy Drew never had to kill anyone to solve a case. I know I certainly haven't had to kill to solve any of my cases. There is always a way around that. If there wasn't, Marion's life wouldn't be worth pig slop right now.

Another problem I have at the moment is that I did not know why Marion took this endeavor upon herself. Now that I think about it, Marion's activities remind me of rumors that I have heard about a certain bunch of Knights of Lutecia who are running around Paris. If the stories are true, they have performed several services for Paris. That would be fine if these people weren't also responsible for several deaths. Could Marion be a Knight? If she is then that is another reason why I need to end her activities. If there is one thing I can't stand, it is a bunch of people who think that they have the right to play God just because they have performed a few good deeds. The last time I checked, that position has been filled since the beginning of time and even beyond that since God exists outside of time. If He came down and saw how the Knights were operated, He would read them the riot act. The way I see it the Knights Of Lutecia are nothing but a bunch of idiots who have gotten too big for their britches. It is time someone cut them down to size. I know would never try to do it myself of course, but at least I can handle one of them.

Once I arrived at my destination, I looked around Place Vendome which was the last time I saw Vincent Kharm outside of jail. It was the place where my friends and I foiled Vincent's Elixir Of Love Scheme. It is where the most convenient access point to the Underground River is. I need to get to the old hideout to I can find any clues as to where the dapper monster might be hiding. I remember how to get to the Arch De Triumph via the river as if it was yesterday. I go down and sneak through the passageways with my flashlight on. But there is a problem. I see another flashlight approaching my passageway so I quickly turned mine off and I hid in the darkness until I discovered the identity of the interloper. Surprise! Surprise! It is the silver tongue devil himself. I bet that he was going to the old hideout to make sure he had taken care of any clues that he might have left before. It is no surprise to me that Vincent looks just as cocky as he always did. Well, it is time someone knocked him down a peg and I am just the person to do it. I waited as the unsuspecting fly approached. As soon as the target got within range, I turned my flashlight back on so the beam hit Vincent right between the eyes so I would have the element of surprise.

"What the..." Vincent swore under his breath.

"Boo!" I happily chattered at the tuxedo wearing rat.

"Miss... Miss Adams, w-what brings you here?" Vincent asked with an edge of fear.

"Cool your jets, Vincent!" I barked. "I have much bigger fish to fry than you. You can spend the rest of your life hiding under rocks if you want. I couldn't stand that kind of a life myself but to each his own I guess."

"Then just what do you want?" Vincent probed with a menacing look of interest.

"Marion! I want her bad!" I growled.

"I had no idea that she was your type," Vincent jibed.

"This is not the time for jokes, Vincent!" I warned while jabbing one of my finger's at my enemy's chest. "I am very angry at Marion and I think you know why! This is not a good time to push my buttons!"

"I suppose that I could help get the two of you together so you can both knock each other silly, but what is in it for me?" Vincent continued to taunt me.

I could not take it any longer. This conniving jerk seemed to think that he could control me just because he had something I wanted. How dare this idiot think he can play games with me now that I am so close to what I want. I could feel my eyes starting to bulge and my breath quickened. There is nothing that I want in this world than to knock this jerk down a peg. There was nothing left for me to do but to grab the joker by his lapels and shake him. I now have the sniveling coward bent over so I can look him in the eye. That should be enough to show Vincent who is in charge.

"I don't think that you want to shake that tree! You won't like what falls out of it!"

"Okay! Okay!" Vincent begged which caused me to push the bad guy away. "Please calm down!"

"Are you ready to cooperate with me or would you like to push a few more of my buttons?" I protested with my arms folded across my chest..

"It's going to hard to find the one you are after," Vincent reasoned. "She has a lot of places to hide."

"Oh, I think that you can do better than that," I urged while shaking my right fist at the idiot.

"Just what makes you so sure?" Vincent probed.

"Marion used to work for you. She knows things about you which makes her a liability. I hardly think that you would let her disappear without having some way of keeping tabs on her."

"I see that I should not underestimate your detective skills," Vincent gave in. "I suppose that I could set up a meeting for you at a emergency hideout that is near here. If you will follow me to my car."

I made sure to keep a five step distance from the enemy because I did not trust him. If there was some other way to find Kat's killer than I would not even be here. Sometimes life hands you some lemons and you have to make lemonade. It's a good thing that I like lemonade because I have been handed enough lemons in the the past week for a lifetime supply. It is fitting that I am thinking about lemons at the moment since walking behind this arrogant and miserable excuse of a man is making my lips puckered. I am going to need a shower when this case is over. Shortly after we exit the river, we approach Vincent's limousine which is parked on a lonely side street. I am surprised that the dummy is not driving something smaller since he has recently escaped from prison. I see the well dressed snake open the passenger door and look at me.

" Feel free to wait in the car while I make the call to Marion," Vincent offered.

My Spidey sense is tingling. Do I really trust Vincent enough to get in his car? Do I need to get Marion that badly? There is another alternative, isn't there? Maybe I'll wait outside. My parents told me never to get into a car with a stranger and there are few people who are stranger than Vincent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Connie meets the killer, but will she get everything she wanted? Will the killer come quietly or will there be a fight in the offing? Will the killer be able to tell poor Connie what happened to her best friend?


	9. Trapping A Killer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie finally catches up to Kat's killer. Will the killer come quietly or will Connie have to get ready for a fight. Connie might even have to come up with a clever plan to capture her target.

I have convinced one of my least favorite people Vincent Kharm to help me lure Marion into a trap. That is the good news. The bad news is that the bad man in black is expecting me to wait in his car while he makes the important phone call. I really want to bring in Marion bad, but do I want this bad enough to risk opening myself up to a possible trap. My parents told me several times never to get into a stranger's car and few people are as strange as Vincent. I think the choice is clear for me. There is no way that I am going to risk my life to bring Marion in no matter how much I want to see that moron behind bars.

"I think I will wait out here," I reply while shaking my head at the arrogant jerk.

"Don't you trust me?" Vincent asked while pretending to look hurt.

"Uh, no," I respond while giving my enemy a narrow look. "My parents did tell me never to get in a car with a stranger."

"That's understandable since I don't completely trust you either," the dapper idiot told me. "I will roll down the passenger window so you can hear."

"Does your phone have a speaker function?" I probed just so I could make sure that Vincent wasn't double crossing me.

"It has everything," Vincent bragged.

One of my least favorite people got back into his car via the driver's door. I hear escaped fugitive push a button to open the window closest to me. While the window is sliding down, I look around the inside of Vincent's car and I notice all of the flashing buttons. All of the bells and whistles Vincent has on his car makes it seem futuristic somehow.

"Do you have a teleporter in this car?" I joked.

"No, I don't care for Star Wars," Vincent erred.

"Star Trek," I corrected.

"Sorry, but I was never into science fiction," Vincent complained.

"That is understandable I guess, but there are people who would boil you in oil for making that mistake," I jibed.

"I don't doubt that," Vincent snickered.

I waited patiently for my very temporary ally to put his phone on speaker and dial the number. I realize that I don't know how I am going to react when I finally come face to face with Marion. I know that I promised to bring in Kat's killer alive, but I am having some doubts. How do you conquer your anger completely when someone kills one of the people you love most? I know Kat was not the same person in the end, but that does not make her death hurt any less. I think that the treatment that I give Marion will largely depend on whether or not she can tell me why Kat went so bonkers. If Marion can put my mind at ease a little, I will reward that action with leniency. However, I did not feel like being charitable when I first hear Marion's voice. I was sorely tempted to grab the phone from Vincent and yell every obscenity in the book at Marion, but I know that there will be plenty of time for that during our face to face meeting. I know that I have to keep quiet to keep our little scheme going. There is no way that Marion would show up if she knew that I was really the one calling the shots.

"I didn't think that I would ever hear from you again, Vincent," Marion grumbled.

"I am afraid that it can't be helped," Vincent replied. "We need to meet."

"I am getting bored with these meetings," Marion protested.

"You won't be bored this time," Vincent promised.

"Do I have a choice?" Marion probed.

"No, meet me at hideout Sigma in thirty minutes," Vincent ordered which caused both parties to abruptly hang up.

"Follow me," Vincent ordered while leaving his car.

I follow my dangerous companion at a safe distance of five steps behind. I can't help but wonder what Vincent's hold is over Marion. Then I realize that some things are better left unknown. I am too busy to notice much of the scenic park we cut though or the hot dog vendor we pass by because I am too busy coming up with a plan of attack. I am so close to Marion that I can practically smell her. It is almost going to be worth temporarily aligning myself with one of the people I hate. I did say almost. Ten minutes later we arrived at a run down building with the paint peeling off of it.

When we got inside, I saw that this used to be a bar because of all of the table and chairs. There is also a cash register that is laying on the long table which is where people would come to get there drinks. I can almost see how bartenders would slide drinks across the bar in all of those old westerns that I learned to watch with my parents.I can even see some empty bottles I look at all of the dust and I know that I might have a problem. I just hope that I don't sneeze and give my position away to the enemy. As soon as Vincent walked in, he turned on the lights which where controlled by a switch behind the bar. He must have been in here a lot to have found it so fast.

"Do you need my help to bring in Marion?" Vincent wondered.

"I appreciate all of your help, but the hunt will be much more satisfying if I do it alone," I refused,

"As you wish," Vincent spoke while quickly leaving.

Now that I alone, I sit on a stool behind the bar and make the place pitch black again. When I was a kid, I was afraid of the dark, but now I find it strangely calming. I try to get all of my thoughts in order now that my trap has been set. I breathe in and I breathe out. That process was interrupted when I heard the door creaking open. My nostrils started flaring because I know the killer opened the door. That was confirmed when she made several angry demands to the darkness. I am tempted to tackle Marion now, but I want to wait until she is more off her guard.

"Where are you, Vincent! This isn't funny! If you don't show up right now, I'm leaving!"

"I am afraid that Vincent couldn't make it today! You'll have to settle for me!" I cackled while flipping on the lights.

"You!" Marion barked.

"I'm afraid so," I droned while walking over to block the exit.

"This was your meeting all along, wasn't it?" Marion whined.

"Right again," I laughed.

"What did you give him in order for him to help you?" Marion sneered.

"You should be asking what I would have done if he had not have helped me," I clarified. "You know how much of a coward he is."

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting?" Marion stupidly asked.

"You were very sloppy when you killed Kat," I pointed out while taking out the rube's ID card.

"So I was," Marion gave in.

"It's been a long time! We need to talk!"

I am at a crossroads. I am finally looking my best friend's killer in the eye. We are both trying to stare each other down while trying to find a weakness in our foe. I look at Marion's short blonde hair and fancy blue dress with red trim and I remember that the vast majority of the tears that I have cried in the past week have been because of the wretched person in front of me. The only reason all of my tears weren't the result of my enemy was because of the part Kat played in this mystery. I know that the only hope that I have of making any sense of what my best friend tried to do lies with Marion. If I don't find out why Kat turned into a terrorist, I will have absolutely no peace at all. I have to know if Kat had been crazy her whole life or if a recent event caused her behavior.

The ironic thing about this mystery is that I had a very short lived crush on Marion on the first day that worked for City Of Love. I would imagine myself grabbing the blonde witch and dragging her into the nearest broom closet. We would kiss each other until we couldn't stand it any longer. Marion would give me a hickey while sucking on my neck. That is when our clothes would come off. We would take turns suckling our lover's breasts and eating each other out. We would finish by simultaneously rubbing our lover's love box to cause the both of us to squirt our fluids onto each other. Nothing ever became of that fantasy because I quickly found out what a backstabber Marion was and the only thing keeping me from getting turned on by this memory is my extreme hatred for my enemy. I now know that this woman is pure poison.

"I didn't expect you to catch up with me so soon," Marion commented with a smirk.

"Why is that?" I grumbled.

"I have been following you," Marion bragged.

"I never saw you!" I barked in shock.

"I have gotten very good at shadowing people," Marion clarified. "From what I observed while tailing you, I got the impression that your mind had the consistency of wallpaper paste."

"I wonder why that could be," I mused while pretending to think about it by scratching my head. "Could it be because I came home one day to find my best friend's murdered body on the couch or could it be because I found out that Kat wasn't what she appeared to be?"

"So you even know that last part," Marion sneered. "I thought that I would have to break that bit of news to you personally. Maybe your detective skills are better than I thought."

"I hate to bust your bubble, but not even Nancy Drew can do everything," I related with my arms folded across my chest. "Bess and George have help out on occasion."

"Someone else did the detective work?" Marion mused with a smirk. "That explains a lot. On the plus side, you have a wonderful singing voice."

"It really makes me feel so much better that you like my singing after all the junk I have been through," I snarled sarcastically.

"I was just trying to pay you a compliment," Marion explained with a shrug of her shoulders.

"You can take all of your compliments and stick them where the sun doesn't shine!" I blared.

"Is that attitude really necessary?" Marion questioned.

"What do you think of the human race?" I asked with a devilish grin. "I'd like an outsider's opinion."

"Oh, very nice!" Marion bit back. "Did you come up with that one yourself?"

"No, I saw it on an old television show," I explained.

"So what happens now?" Marion wondered.

"That depends on you," I answered with my best look of intimidation.

"Just what do you mean?" Marion queried suspiciously.

"How lenient I am with you depends on whether or not you can answer one simple question correctly," I clarified.

"Shoot," Marion conceded.

"Did Kat tell you why she wanted to flood Paris before you killed her?" I pressed.

"Look, that is not going to help you get over this," Marion debated.

I did not like that answer which caused my eyes to widen and my breathing rate to increase. How dare Marion talk to me like that! If I let this idiot get away with such behavior, that would be showing weakness to her which would be a sin in battle. I got so mad that I quickly advanced on my foe and punched her square on her nose. I was so satisfied to see that I had drawn some blood from that ugly mug that an evil smile slowly crept across my face.

"Damn you!" Marion protested.

"When I want your opinion, I will ask for it, big stupid jerk!" I hollered. "This is not a good time to be pushing my buttons! Since you told me that you like my singing, that must mean that you followed me to Kat's funeral which was extremely disrespectful to all of the mourners who were there. Anyway, you had to have seen that I was so stressed out, I almost punched out one of my own friends. If I am capable of doing that then you must understand that I would not hesitate to knock your block off. Now answer my question and let me worry about the result!"

"Okay, she didn't tell me anything," Marion conceded.

"You better not be lying to me because I HATE LIARS!" I threatened while grinding my fist into my hand.

"No, I am not lying!" Marion insisted.

"I bet you didn't even bother asking her that!" I protested. "Since you killed Kat, I will never know why any of this happened and I will never know how much of my life has been a lie!"

"Hey, I had to kill Kat to save Paris!" Marion shot at me.

"You did not, you insolent bitch!" I practically yelled.

"You were not there and if that is how you are going talk to a Knight Of Lutecia then I'm leaving!" Marion proclaimed while trying to walk past me.

"I don't care if you are a Knight Of The Flipping Round Table!" I barked while shoving Marion so hard that she landed on her butt. "The only way you are leaving here is over my dead body!

"I have tried to be understanding with you since I know that you are under a great deal of stress, but I am getting very tired of you hitting me!" Marion shrieked while standing up. "If you keep this up, I will have to retaliate and I should warn you that the Knights put all of their new recruits through heavy combat training!"

"Good, then maybe you can make this more interesting!" I prodded.

"Do you know what your problem is?" Marion asked.

"No, why don't you tell me," I insisted.

"You get too attached to people," Marion explained. "Sometimes you have break some eggs to make an omelette."

"You might have joined the Borg collective, but I am proud to be a living breathing member of the human race and that is not going to change anytime soon!" I blared. "And another thing, people are not eggs! No person is expendable, you stinking pile of pig slop!"

I have had enough! I am more angry than I have been in my life with the possible exception of when I found Kat dead on the couch. I see a glint of steel out of the corner of my eye and I realize that someone left a sharp knife on a nearby table. I know that I promised my friend Sarah that I would bring in Marion alive, but I believe that the world will thank me for getting rid of this jerk. I reach over with my right hand and grasp the knife.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Marion shrieked.

"What does it look like?" I sneer while picking up the knife.

I am at a crossroads in my life. Even though I promised my friend Sarah that I would bring in Marion to the police alive, I am seriously considering killing Marion not only for killing my best friend Kat but also because Marion would not stop pestering me during this meeting. She must have known that it would be crazy to do so since she secretly followed me to my best friends funeral and saw me almost come to blows with my friend Tristan. Even though the blonde witch saw that example of my short fuse, she would not stop riding me. I think Marion likes to stick her head inside every lion's mouth she finds. I know that one lion will eventually bite her if I don't do it so why shouldn't I do the job myself? That is why I am holding a very sharp kitchen knife in my right hand.

Even though Marion is yelling some kind of threat at me, I can't hear what she is saying because I am too busy contemplating the possible consequences of my actions. Will the Knights want to kill me for bumping off one of their members? Will I go to prison? I had all of the jail life that I could stand when I was framed for Kat's death. What will happen to the last bit of my sanity if I commit this horrible act? Won't killing this creep make me as bad as she is? My parents told me many times before that two wrongs don't make a right. The knife is becoming heavy in my hand. This is wrong. I know that I can't commit murder no matter what Marion did so I flung the knife behind me as hard as I can to remove the temptation.

"So what changed your mind?" Marion asked with an almost gloating smile.

This woman truly must be truly insane. I almost decided to cut her to ribbons with a knife and she still wants to push my buttons. Doesn't she realize how close I came to killing her? Does she have a death wish? Maybe Marion simply does not believe that I am strong enough to kill her. I better end this little game and take her to the police before I blow my stack again.

"I would rather die than wind up like you," I answered coldly.

"I thought it was to keep my friends from coming after you!" Marion cackled.

"The last thing that I am afraid of is a bunch of vigilantes who all think that they have the right to play God just because they have performed a few good deeds," I explained. "By the way, that position has been filled since before time even began."

"You have a lot of nerve!" Marion accused. "You accuse us all of vigilantism and then you think about killing someone to prove your point!"

"I never said that I was perfect, but at least I don't hide my transgressions behind a smokescreen," I pointed out. "My life is an open book. Can you or any of your band of merry men say that?"

"You know, this conversation is starting to bore me," Marion rambled after letting out a frustrated sigh.

"And I thought that we would never agree on anything!" I laughed. "Are you going to come along quietly or do I have to get rough?"

"It won't do you any good to bring me in," Marion protested. "I wouldn't be in jail for long since I saved Paris."

"Are you absolutely sure that you saved Paris?" I asked with my arms folded across my chest.

"What do you mean?" Marion probed with a confused look.

"Was Kat working by herself or was someone else calling the shots?" I probed while digging a hole into Marion's soul with my eyes. "I can tell by the pale expression on your face that you neglected to find that out before you bumped off my friend. It is a shame that you had to be so sloppy. You might have caused an even bigger mess than the one you were trying to clean up. I guess that I am going to have to clean up your dumb mistakes after I turn you in to the police."

Before I knew what was going on, Marion punched me hard in my right eye which will obviously give me a black eye that I will have to explain to my friends later. I guess that I must have struck a nerve. If that wasn't enough, Marion knocked me down to the floor with a roundhouse kick. Cocky Marion looked oh so proud of herself as she looked down on me.

"Can I leave now or do you want me to teach you another lesson?" Marion cackled.

I guess this is one of those times when Bugs Bunny would suggest that I try some strategy since it seems that Marion might be a better fighter than I am. My idea is to make my foe think that I am more injured than I really am so I got up slowly while wobbling my head. I can see Marion eyeing me to decide just how hurt I really am. I hope that I am a good actor since that is a very important part to my plan. Even if my plan works, I know that it will be very risky to carry out.

"Do you give up?" Marion wondered. "You probably should since my skills are better than yours."

"I will give up when pigs fly!" I threatened.

"If that's what you really want," Marion spoke while shrugging her shoulders. "It will be a shame to damage such a pretty face as yours, but I guess it can't be helped sometimes."

Marion got ready to throw another punch which caused me to put my plan that will take split second timing. I lifted my open right hand towards Marion's face. While closing my eyes, I reached inside my right sleeve and pressed a metal lever that caused a bright flash to erupt in my enemy's eyes. I knew my plan was successful when I heard her scream in pain. I opened my eyes and took advantage of the shrew's discomfort by smashing my right fist into her eye as hard as I could. I kept the move going by giving Marion a roundhouse kick. While my friend's killer stumbled back. I pulled her head onto the nearest table. I paused for a second to see if Marion still wants to fight, but all she did was groan in pain. I took a pair of handcuffs and stretched my foe's arms behind her back so I could restrain her.

"Let's go get some fresh air," I ordered while pushing my captured enemy in front of me.

"Oh, well done!" Marion sarcastically protested.

"Yes, I think so!" I snickered.

It few seconds of careful navigating around the tables with Marion in front of me, but I had plenty of room to move around once I got back outside. I wanted to walk Marion to the police station myself, but my back was tired from fighting Marion so I took my cell phone out of my pocket to call the police. I am just about to make the call when someone distracts me.

"Connie, what's going on?" the person asks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Connie has captured Kat's killer, but is that the end of the story? There just might be other bad guys for Connie to stop before she can save Paris.


	10. Louise's advice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I make the call to the police to get them to arrest Kat's killer while talking with Louise. The only problem is that my poor back is hurting me and I am thinking about finishing this case myself. Louise knows this and says whatever she can think of to try to stop me.

I have reached a new level of peace. I walked away from temptation and handcuffed Kat's killer alive even though Marion almost provoked me to the point of slashing her to ribbons with a knife. I feel at peace with myself now that I know that I do not have to give in to my darkest impulses. I know my life wouldn't have been worth much if I had killed the villain because both the Knights Of Lucetia and the police would have been after me. I have now walked outside with my prisoner from the rundown bar where I had set my trap. It cost me a black eye to get the cuffs on the blonde maniac, but it was well worth it. I know that I am a step closer to solving this case. This case might have been over if I knew if Kat was working by herself to carry out her crazy plan, but I know whose fault that was. I was just about to call the police to ask them to come take out the garbage for me when I hear someone distract me.

"Connie, what's going on?" the person asks.

A blush started at my head and went all the way down to my feet when I looked up to see that my toughest friend of all Louise was the one who distracted me. I have always found the looks of Louise to be quite breathtaking and she does not take any guff from anyone. I find both of those qualities to be quite sexy. My heart skips a beat every time I look at her. She always seems to care for me which is one of the main reasons that I am considering dating Louise exclusively when this business is settled.

"Louise, meet the killer!" I commanded proudly while waving my right hand at my trophy.

"Are you okay?" Louise probed with concern while touching my shoulder which sent a spark down my arm. "I notice that you have a black eye."

"I'm better than Marion is!" I cackled. "I better call the police and get them to take out the trash.

My tough friend Louise waited patiently while I called the police. It was ironic that I talked to the very same man who charged me with Kat's murder when this whole mess started. I felt like yelling some obscenities at him, but I fortunately let cooler heads prevail. I couldn't help but needle the idiot a little since I captured the real killer while he did not. I gave him the address and asked him nicely to come and pick up my garbage. When I was done, I put my phone away so I could cheer myself up with some kind words from my hot friend. 

"She definitely has more bruises on her face," Louise agreed with a smile while patting my back which caused me to let out an almost silent grunt.

"Ouch!" I complained.

"You are still having problems with your back," Louise whined while making me sit in a nearby bench which caused my wretched and disgusting prisoner to sit in the next bench over.

"I noticed that," I agreed with a somewhat weak smile.

"You need to see a doctor to get that checked out," Louise insisted. "I am worried about you. If you don't take a break from all of this stress soon, you could hurt yourself."

"I don't think I have time right now," I debated.

"At least come home with me so I can give you a massage... and maybe a few other things," Louise pleaded with a suggestive leer.

"Even though it would make me very happy to go home with you, I have to make sure that this case might is over," I explained with a deep frown.

"What do you mean?" Louise asks in shock. "You've already nailed the killer.

"Let's just say I might not be done because of this idiot's sloppy detective work," I growled while gesturing at Marion.

"There wasn't time to do anything else!" Marion argued. "I had to..."

"In America, the police read something called a Miranda Warning when they arrest someone," I interrupted. "It starts out by telling you that you have the right to remain silent. If I were you, I would follow that advice before you provoke me into doing something that we will both regret."

"You are hiding something, Connie," Louise accused.

"I don't want to talk about it!" I denied. "It's too painful."

"I think that it would help if you did," Louise pressed while rubbing my right shoulder.

"I think I can help," Marion offered with the smirk of a witch.

"Do you want me to stuff one of my socks in your mouth?" I questioned the killer.

"No, that would not make me very happy," Marion replied.

"Then shut your stupid pie hole!" I threatened while pulling sharply on Marion's right ear to drive my point across.

"Okay, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to!" Louise promised me with a placating gesture to diffuse the possibility of Marion and I coming to blows again.

But I can't think about a relationship just yet no matter how hot I find Louise since Marion did find out if Kat wanted to flood Paris by herself before she killed her. I would have loved to go home with Louise more than anything for one of her massages, but Paris needed my help. Maybe it was a bad idea to continue with this case while my back was hurting me, but I knew that if I sat this one out and let the police handle it, the worrying would probably kill me. I have no choice in the matter. I have to clean up the mess Marion made. I had to save Paris.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's time to wrap up this case and save Paris no matter how much my back is hurting me. I just hope my physical and mental pains won't get in the way.


	11. Finding The Ringleader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie turns in her best friend's killer and makes the final preparations to solve the case and save Paris. She just might get her world shaken up one more time when she finds the one who is really responsible. Opinions welcome.

Louise passes the time it takes for the police to show up by massaging my sore back while I have my arms draped over the green bench. How I wish I could go home with Louise so she can give me a more proper and satisfying massage, but I don't have the time so I have to settle for getting this massage while fully clothed. It is isn't all that bad though. Louise's strong and capable hands are still enough to make me moan. There is no question that this is the best massage that I have ever gotten. It is clearly bringing at least some of the strength back to my poor back. I start to blush when I imagine how good this massage would be if I was naked. As I relax on the bench, I am sitting on while imagining all of the possibilities. If Louise and I started dating, I could get a lot more of these massages. Maybe I should ask Louise out on a date when this craziness is over.

I need to find out where Kat intended to flood Paris so I can perform a stakeout there. Kat was working for someone. I can feel it in my bones and my Spidey senses are tingling. This plan seems too well thought out for just one person. I have a plan forming in my head. I am going to stop the ringleader, end this case, and make the ringleader tell me why Kat went so crazy. I simply need to know the answer to bring some sense back into my life. I have felt that I have been looking at my life through a fun house mirror ever since Sarah told me about Kat's crazy part in this mystery. A disturbing thought has entered my mind. What if the ringleader doesn't know Kat's motives either. I would just be out of luck then. I would always wonder which parts of my life were fake and which ones were real.

Just when I feel like I can stand Louise's massage no longer, we hear sirens approaching from the distance which causes the spunky Louise to end my moment of bliss. Before the police come to pick up the garbage, I have one more job to do. I have to make sure Marion knows what is going to happen if she messes with anymore of my friends. She needs to know that I am not a person to be messed with. I slowly walk towards her and I make sure she knows how angry I am by the look on my face. I want Marion cowering before me.

"I believe that is for you," I gloated.

"So it is," Marion replied as if she doesn't care.

"If I were you, I would stay away from my friends!" I threatened.

"I will do what I have to!" Marion barked at me.

"Look, you have already played Russian Roulette once and very nearly gotten your head blown off!" I argued.

"Oh, really!" Marion cackled.

"If you play Russian Roulette again, I guarantee you that all the chambers will be loaded next time!" I promised. "I wouldn't count on my good nature again and I wouldn't count on my friends' ability to talk me out of killing you again! I know what you are thinking. She doesn't have the guts to kill me and she isn't strong enough to kill me anyway. I warn you not to underestimate me! If you value your life at all, you had better watch your step!"

"Hmph!" Marion snorted as if she didn't care. I should have known that I couldn't scare that moron.

As the police close in on us, I hand the police my evidence and Marion actually surprised me by confessing that she killed Kat. Then again, I probably shouldn't be surprised at all that Marion confessed since she always had been a cocky jerk. I said goodbye to the police by giving them my favorite line from the Dick Tracy movie.

"Take the bad woman away. She scares me."

After the police took Marion away, I consider my next course of action. I need to figure out where the ringleader will strike to carry out this sick plot. I do not think that Kat would pull off something like this by herself. That is when I remember that Sarah told me that she read Kat's plans. I just wish that I hadn't left my copy at home. That makes it imperative that I get in touch with Sarah. I called her at her home and she wasn't there. I called her work and I contacted her assistant instead. I finally got in touch with Sarah when I convinced her assistant that it was a matter of life of death.

"What do want, Connie?"

"You told me that you read Kat's plans?" I pressed.

"Yeah, so?" Sarah wondered.

"Do you know where this is supposed to take place?" I probed.

"At Notre Dame as much as I could figure out," Sarah advised.

"Thanks, now I know where to hold my stakeout," I blurted out.

"There is one more thing you should know," Sarah warned me. "If the floods start, then just say promissum inside Notre Dame to stop the floods."

"Got it," I concurred.

"I better get back to work. Bye!" Sarah spoke while hanging up.

I get into the passenger seat of Louise's car so she can take me to my next destination. I am so keyed up that I don't really know what is happening at the moment. I don't notice any of the businesses going by. I just think about what will probably be my last case. I don't have the stomach for any new cases. I have lost too damn much to ever go through this again. The only thing that I do notice is Louise.

"I wish that you would have told the police what you know and let them handle this," Louise whined. "I don't think that you are well enough to go through another fight. A criminal isn't going to show you any sympathy if your back gives out and you are rolling on the ground in pain."

"I appreciate your concern, but I think that it would be worse for me sitting at home doing nothing and worrying about it," I protested. "I have to do this!"

"I don't understand what you are doing, but I admire how brave you are," Louise complimented me.

"I appreciate that," I replied as my cheeks turn red because of my friends compliment.

"I am very proud of you for bringing Marion in alive!" Louise chirped.

"You wouldn't have been so proud of me if you had seen me in action," I complained. "She kept riding me so much that I considered slicing her to pieces with a knife someone had left in that rundown restaurant."

"I am still proud of you!" Louise insisted. "You overcame the temptation!"

We soon arrive at Notre Dame where the final battle is to take place. On the final leg of the journey, I had my eyes closed in an act of meditation to steady myself. I know that I am going to have to be on my guard to bring in the final bad guy. Just before leaving the car, I kiss Louise for luck and I am very happy that she let me. I draw out the kiss until I just can't stand it any longer. When I had my fill of the seductress, I ran out while waving to her. I enter the highly decorated church that has stained glass in every window. I am surprised to find it completely empty. That fact alone was enough to make my hair stand on end. I lay on the left middle pew on my stomach so I don't put pressure on my back and I waited. Five minutes later, I heard footsteps approach and I heard a sinister voice speak out.

"Who would have thought that it would be this easy to flood Paris?" a seemingly familiar cackled.

"It might be harder than you think!" I debated while jumping out to spring my trap. 

I look at the ringleader and my mouth hanged open in shock. She is none other than Alia, the person who got me out of jail. I thought that the woman in front of me was my friend. What is going on here? First Kat and now this. Are all of my friends getting in line to betray me? I am so much in shock that there was only one thing that I could say.

"Good grief! It's you!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Connie fights to keep Paris from being flooded. Will her problems with stress and her back get in the way?


	12. Finding Mrs. Wrong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie finds the culprit who is really responsible for the attack on Paris. Can Connie stop the bad guy and save Paris despite the pain in her back?

I am looking at the person at the person who is in charge of this sick scheme to flood Paris and she is shooting a cold calculating stare back at me. I am so surprised because of who the terrorist is that my mouth is hanging open slightly. The brunette with shoulder length hair is a couple of inches taller than me which makes her look almost regal. I know that she wears only the highest quality of clothes. She is now wearing a glittering yellow dress with a small red rose over the right breast. Even though she is at least ten years older to me, I can tell that she takes good care of herself. At least she takes care of herself physically, but mentally not so much. If I did not know that Alia was a terrorist, I might be attracted to her. When someone tries to destroy the town that I call home, I take them off my list of dating prospects PDQ.

The problem is that it doesn't make sense to me that Alia is the ringleader. She was the one who pulled some strings to get me out of jail when I was unjustly arrested for Kat's death and she even offered to cook dinner for me at her home which I don't understand at all. I thought that the woman who is plotting to do me in right now was my friend. Is there something wrong with me? Have I done something to deserve this? If there is, it must the worst thing that anyone has ever done and I don't remember what that is. First Kat and now this. It is as if people are lining up to betray me. I really shouldn't think this way. I have realized that there is no time for a pity party right now because I need to save Paris first and then I can worry about which friends of mine are real and which aren't.

"You seemed surprised about something," Alia commented in a tone designed to fool me into thinking that she cares for me. Lots of luck on that because it won't work.

"It usually surprises me when someone I thought of as a friend tries to pull a stupid stunt like this!" I complained. "First Kat and now this!"

"Nothing surprises me anymore," Alia droned.

"I might surprise you!" I warned while giving Alia as confident of a smile as I could muster.

"Oh, I doubt that!" Alia laughed snidely. "You were a fool to come here without your full range of motion! Even now I can tell that you are having a problem with your back!"

"I will do anything to protect my friends and my home from people like you!" I threatened. "By the way, just what could have happened to you that would make you want to do something like this?"

"I don't really feel like telling you that right now," Alia refused. "You will have to earn it. Perhaps I will tell you if you if you foil my plans."

"Then perhaps you will tell me why you worked so hard to get me out of jail," I pressed.

"I prefer to keep my friends close and my enemies closer," Alia declared.

"Is that your only reason?" I had to know.

"I have heard about your detective skills," Alia elaborated with an evil grin and her arms folded across her chest. "It has been a long time since anyone has been able to keep up with me in a game of wits."

"Monopoly can be a fun game," I deadpanned. "How about checkers?"

"Board games are rather boring to me," Alia refused. "The stakes just aren't high enough."

"You even offered to cook dinner for me after Kat's funeral!" I protested.

"What fun is it to tear someone down if someone has already done the job for you?" Alia explained. "I had to do something to build you up. I was rather surprised when you went off with two of your other friends to go bar hopping instead of taking me up on my offer."

"I know going to a bar wasn't the smartest decision that I have made, but at least I was with actual friends," I replied with my eyes narrowed.

"Is there really such a thing?" Alia wondered.

"I will do whatever it takes to stop you," I promised while going into a martial arts stance of readiness.

"You don't have what it takes, sweetie!" Alia taunted.

"That is it!" I screeched. "You are insane and I am tired of people tugging at my heartstrings as some kind of sick game!"

I saw Alia throwing a punch at my face which I ordinarily would have been able to duck, but my aching back slowed me down enough to the point where I could to do nothing to stop Alia from hitting my left eye with her right fist. Great! Now both of my eyes are going to be black and I am going to look like a raccoon. With her left fist, Alia sucker punched me in the stomach. I spent a couple of seconds on my right knee in pain. Alia brought me back to a standing position by placing both of her hands on the sides of my face and lifting up. I just know that Alia is about to snap my neck.

"You are so pathetic," Alia grumbled.

In a move of total desperation, I reared my head back and crashed it right into Alia chin to get her to let go of me. I gave her face two of my hardest punches with both of my fists while ignoring the pain the punches caused my back. Just as I kicked Alia in the stomach, I gott distracted by approaching police sirens which allowed the villain to make her escape to the back of the chapel.

"Curse you, Connie!" she spat while running away.

I tried to chase after the villain, but all I could do was walk because of my back. By the time I managed to make it out of Notre Dame, Alia was long gone. I drove my right fist into my left hand in an act of frustration. I managed to save Paris from getting flooded, but the bad guy was still at large. That means no one is safe. I just hope my back can hold out for one more fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Connie has to go through one more fight to stop the villain. Just when it looks like she is about to win, a personal tragedy befalls poor Connie when her back finally gives out. How can Connie possibly stop Alia when she is practically paralyzed on the floor?


	13. Adding Injury To Insult

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie's back gives out at the worst possible time when she was trying to confront a lunatic with a gun. At least Alia let Connie's friend go. With Connie on the ground in immense pain, it looks like there is nothing that she can do to save her life. Opinions welcome.

I have just stopped Alia from flooding the city of Paris, but the terrorist got away from me. I just might have to fight Alia one more time because I know that no one will be safe until that maniac is behind bars. There is a big problem with me fighting anyone at the moment. Ever since Marion killed Kat, I have suffered so much stress that it has been messing up my back. I fear if I don't see a doctor soon, I will suffer a serious injury. I have a decision to make. Do I stop the bad guy and risk getting hurt severely or do I let the police handle things for once and take care of myself? Maybe there is a way that stop Alia without fighting her. An idea starts forming in my head and I am so focused on it that I am startled by a hand touching my right shoulder. I grabbed the hand and yank the person in front of me which cost me a twinge in my back.

"Easy, it's only me!" Louise protested.

"Did you call the police?" I probed.

"I had to!" Louise cried out. "I am worried about you! I kept picturing you trying to fight a crazed psychopath while rolling on the floor because your back had given out."

"I appreciate your concern," I offered while patting my brunette friend's left shoulder. I decided not to mention that the distraction of the sirens might have cost me the capture of Alia. "I am just going to have to figure out how to find Alia again."

"NO, YOU ARE NOT!" Louise shrieked right in my face which scared the living daylights out of me. "Look at yourself! Your back is wound up so tight that it could snap at any minute! Let the police catch the culprit and let me take you to the hospital!"

I am so shocked that I could nothing but blink for a few seconds. I must have looked like a statue. I know that if I go off hunting for Alia, Louise is liable to slap me and it wouldn't be the first time that she has done it. Just the memory of that incident when I said that I had nothing left to lose is enough to make me cringe in horror. I know that I would rather fight Lord Voldemort than make Louise mad at me. Even if Louise wasn't prone to quick bouts of temper, there was no denying the fact that my hot friend had me wrapped around her little finger. I have absolutely no choice in the matter.

"Okay, but let me talk to the police first so they can make sure that Alia can't try to flood Paris again," I bargained.

"Deal," Louise accepted while shaking my hand which made it feel warm. I might not wash my hand for a week after Louise touched it.

I went to Officer Hugo to explain what Alia tried to do and I even told him about the code word to stop the flood if it becomes necessary. At first the dumb cop did nothing but stroke his beard as if he didn't believe me. I do not believe this! First he arrested me for Kats's death and now this! I was about to blow my stack when Louise got in his face too. That changed his attitude in a hurry. Even a hardened officer like Hugo had trouble standing up to a force of nature like Louise. We even convinced him to put guards on the Catacombs to make sure that Alia wouldn't be able to carry out her mad plan under Notre Dame.

Twenty minutes later, I was about to take myself out of the game by letting Louise take me to the hospital when my cell phone rang. I was just about to get in Louise's car when I answered the call. My face immediately turned white because I found out that my crazy friend Noor was calling me with a message that I did not want to hear.

"Help! Alia is after me with a gun! I'm scared! She's going to..."

I felt like my world came to an end when I heard a gun shot which changed my line to pure static. I dropped my cell phone while shaking all over my body and sinking to my knees. One of my tears even fell to the ground. I had never been so scared in my life. All Louise could do was wrap her arms around me and squeeze.

"What happened?"

"Alia got to Noor," I squeaked. "She has either kidnapped her or..."

I just could not finish that terrible sentence. If I let myself think that Noor might be dead even for a second, I know that I would go stark raving out of my mind.

"I'm very sorry, but you really need to go to the hospital," Louise argued lightly.

"No freaking way!" I protested vehemently.

"You can't be serious!" Louise whined.

"I have lost too damn much trying to solve this case!" I explained. "I won't lose Noor too! Not if I can help it!"

"You can't do this!" Louise protested. "You won't be able to help Noor if you hurt yourself!"

"I have to do this!" I insisted.

"Why?" Louise demanded. "I don't understand why you are putting your life on the line especially with your bad back! I don't want you hurting yourself! I am worried about you!"

"It's just that..." I murmured while choking on the most painful memory of my life.

"Please tell me," Louise insisted. "It is not good for you to keep emotions locked up inside you. You don't want your emotions putting more stress on your back."

"I let Kat go out by herself to that meeting and look what happened," I grumbled.

I noticed Louise putting her right hand on her forehead and sighing. I can tell that she is using a lot of restraint to keep from saying something mean to me. She is using extreme patience as she decides what the most beneficial thing to say to me is. This is just one of many instances that proves Louise is a true friend. The way that she furrows her brow while she thinks is making me become even more attracted to her. If Noor wasn't in deathly peril at the moment, I might ask Louise out on a date right this second. Since Noor is in danger because of that lunatic Alia, I know it is better to hold my tongue at the moment.

"Don't you know that Kat's death is not your fault?" Louise protests.

"Yes, I do know that, but I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I had shadowed Kat," I mused. "I might have been able to save her. I might have discovered what went wrong with her and I might have fixed her. Now do you see why I have to help Noor? She is my friend. She helped me deal with the pain of losing Kat when it threatened to devour me. I would never forgive myself if I lost Noor and I didn't at least try to stop it. As I said before, I have lost too much to lose Noor too. I need her."

"Okay, I am not going to waste time arguing with you," Louise gave in. "At least let me give you a quick rub down before you go rushing off to fight evil. It might make the difference."

"I don't think that I have time," I debated.

"But we don't know where Alia might have taken Noor yet anyway," Louise explained. "Just give me five minutes and then we can figure something out. As for now, take off your jacket so I can make better contact."

"Okay," I conceded while taking my jacket off and putting it on the hood of Louise's luxury car. I just know that it is pointless to argue with Louise since she doesn't take anything from anybody. Once I have my jacket off, I held onto the top of the car and prepared for my quick massage. I enjoyed it, but I do not enjoy it as much as I usually do because I know that my back is fighting the spitfire all of the way. Five minutes went by a lot quicker than I would have liked and Louise stopped which allowed me to look around which made me see how quiet my surroundings have gotten. I must have been too distracted by Louise's massage to notice the police leaving.

"Do you notice how quiet everything has gotten around here?" I asked with a worried voice.

"The police must have found out what was going on and went off to stop it," Louise guessed.

I was about to comment about this turn of events when my phone rang. Louise picked it up from the ground and handed it to me so I wouldn't have to pick it up myself. A sense of immense revulsion overtook me that made me shiver when I discovered the identity of the caller.

"Hello, Connie?" Alia spoke into the other line.

"What have you done with Noor?" I demanded.

"I haven't done anything with her," Alia replied. "Although, she doesn't seem to be happy at her family reunion with her father at his home. Frankly, I am getting tired of her so I will tell you what I am going to do. I will let her go on to live her mundane live if you become my hostage instead."

"I will do anything to help my friend!" I blared.

"How noble of you!" Alia cackled.

"May I please talk to her?" I begged.

"Connie, I'm scared!" Noor sniffled after a few seconds. "There is no telling what Alia might do."

After that, all I heard was a dial tone.

Now that I know that Alia is holding Noor inside her father's home, I not only know where the villain is holding my friend, but I know that she now has two hostages instead of just one. The problem is I care very little about Noor's father since I know that he is a Knight Of Lucetia. First of all, those idiots think that they have the right to do whatever they want just because they have done a few good deeds. Those jerks simply have gotten way too big for their britches and it looks like one of them might be paying the price for it right now. Second of all, one of the those so-called heroes killed my best friend Kat, the friend that I knew my whole life. Granted, Kat was trying to do something horrible at the end of her life, but Marion could have saved Paris and brought in Kat alive, but that blonde monster decided to take the easy way out. If Alia had called me and asked me to be a hostage for just Noor's father, I would have given her my loudest laugh possible and hung up.

I can tell Louise is clearly unhappy about me becoming the hostage of a lunatic because of the way she is looking at me, but I have no choice in the matter. I must do whatever it takes to save my friend even if it injures my back and even if it costs me my life. All of my friends mean the world to me, even that self-asorbed Tristan. They have meant even more to me after Kat died. I will not lose any more of them. Louise simply has to understand that. I fear that she does not because of the way she is approaching me. I thought she was going to try and convince me not to put myself in danger again, but I was wrong. Louise put her hands on my waist and gave me such a wonderful kiss while stabbing her tongue into my mouth. I went through ten seconds of bliss as I felt my whole body blushing. I could feel searing heat radiating throughout my body.

"That is just a sample of what will be waiting for you if you stop the bad guy and come out of it alive," Louise promised. "I will make your every waking dream come true."

"How can I fail with an incentive like that?" I wheezed.

"I will deliver you into battle on one condition," Louise ordered.

"What?" I wondered aloud.

"That you relax for the entire trip," Louise commanded with the strictest look imaginable to make sure that I knew that she meant business. "I won't talk to you and you won't talk to me. You will keep your eyes closed the whole time and take several deep breaths. I want you to empty your mind while we are in my car."

"You got it," I responded since I knew I could say nothing else without the possibility of getting hit again.

"I'm not a psychologist but I think that has been a big part of your problem," Louise guessed. "You haven't been relaxing enough. You have been operating like a whirling dervish ever since Kat's death. No one can keep up that pace for this long without suffering some physical damage."

"I guess relaxing hasn't been much on my mind lately," I complained.

"I think that you should exercise more as soon as you are feeling better," Louise recommended.

After Louise's lecture was over, I spent a few minutes in my friend's car following her advice. Breathe in and breath out. It was just so hard for me to empty my mind because of all the junk that I had gone through lately. The meditation exercise that Louise ordered me to use was helping my back slightly, but I had no way of knowing if it would be enough to keep me from getting severely injured while trying to save Noor. I had a plan to confront Alia without fighting her, but I knew my plan was a long shot.

I was jolted from my exercise when Louise stopped the car. I knew that we were in the right place because of all the shouting. I quickly got of the car and was blinded by all of the red flashing lights for a second. I could see a modest brick house nearby that was obviously the source of all of the excitement. I heard my favorite idiot Hugo arguing with Alia over his bullhorn.

"Send in Connie now!" Alia demanded.

"We don't negotiate with terrorists!" Hugo refused.

"I will shoot the girl!" Alia promised.

"NO, DON'T! I'M COMING!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

"We cannot guarantee your safety!" Hugo warned me.

"The only way that you are going to stop me from going after my friend is to shoot me!" I spat out as I penetrated the line of police cars.

I could hear my heart beating in my ears as I approached the front door. I half expected Alia to gun me down before I even got to the front door. Just before I made it to the double door on the left, Noor came out on the right. I shared a split second hug with Noor that made me cringe when my friend touched my back. I knew that it wasn't a good idea to delay going in any longer because I knew that the lunatic might get mad at me and do something stupid. The first thing I saw when I got into the house was Noor's father.

"Thank you for what you did for Noor," the man spoke while attempting to shake my hand.

"I did it for her!" I snapped while slapping his hand away. "I didn't do it for you!"

"Are you mad at me?" Daddy Dearest asked.

"I am not mad at you," I clarified while walking towards Alia with as much confidence as I could muster. "I am mad at what you represent. If you'll excuse me."

"You are very noble," Alia spoke while leveling her gun at me.

"I apologize for the delay, but I had to tell off an idiot," I begged.

"You are very polite too," Alia complimented me.

"May we please talk for a second?" I probed.

"I guess so," Alia conceded. "What do you want?"

"I know how you feel," I began.

"How dare you!" Alia freaked. "You have never been married and you have never had a husband savagely taken from you!"

Alia swung her gun at me in an attempt to butt me in the head with it. I ducked under it and was prepared to punch the terrorist as long as her gun wasn't pointed at me when I heard two of the worst sounds that I have ever heard in my life. I heard a loud popping noise coming from my back and I heard someone screaming. The really bad part was that I was the one screaming. I collapsed to the floor in pain while a few tears fell down my face and was I was barely able to move. I remembered all of the things that Louise promised to do for me if I came back alive and I realized how unlikely that was with a maniac pointing her gun at me and my back disabled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How can Connie possibly defeat the gun toting Alia now that she can't even get off the floor? Maybe Connie will be able to reason with the lunatic.


	14. My New Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie is now trapped on the floor because of her bad back and the bad guy has a gun pointed at her. There is only one way for Connie to save her own life and that is to find some common ground with Alia.

"Connie, you were a fool to face me in your condition!" Alia proclaimed while leveling her gun at me.

"That maybe so, but I did not have a choice," I replied calmly and it surprises that I can do anything calmly in this dire situation. "I could have went to the hospital and taken care of myself, but I would have risked my friend's life. There was no way that I would have risked losing another friend after losing the one friend I knew my whole life. I have lost too much already. I would have made the same decision every time."

"The only person that I have known who was more selfless than you was my husband," Alia wistfully spoke out.

As soon as the villain mentioned her former husband, I knew that I had a possible way of making her see that this action wasn't right. My plan all along was to find some common ground between me and poor Alia. I have never been married, but the person who holds my very life in her hands needs to see that does not mean that she is the only one in the world who has lost someone important. If this plan fails then I know that I will be dead within a matter of seconds since my back has just snapped because of all the constant stress Kat's death has caused me. I don't even have the luxury of laying flat on the ground. The way that I fell on the ground has my rear sticking up slightly, but there is nothing I can do about that at the moment.

"Please tell me about him," I begged which made Alia's gun arm relax only slightly.

"He was the most handsome and the most gentle man that I have ever known," Alia whined as a tear came out of her left eye which gave me the briefest of hopes that my plan might succeed and I might leave this house alive. "He made my life complete. I thought that we would be together forever until his fellow Knights betrayed and killed him."

"I was wondering what started this," I murmured mainly to myself.

"If you are going to tell me that you know how I feel again..." Alia threatened while waving her gun around.

"Could you please wait until I am finished until you pass judgment on me?" I urged.

"Why should I listen to you?" Alia wondered menacingly.

"Because you are the one with the gun, and I would hardly be in any shape to hurt you even if you didn't since I can't even get off the floor," I reasoned.

"Fine, but make it quick," Alia conceded. "The only reason that I am going to listen to you at all is because you are so polite."

"I know that I have never been married, but I still know what it is like when someone takes a loved one from you," I began. "Imagine how I must have felt when I came home one day to find my best friend's murdered corpse on the couch. I was so mad that I was ready to cough up blood. For days, there was only one thought that clogged my mind and that was revenge. All I could do during that time was to dream up the most bloodiest ways that I could tear the killer apart."

"Why didn't you?" Alia pressed.

"My friends spent a lot of time talking me back from insanity," I elaborated. "They made sure that I knew what would happen if I carried out my mad plan. Thanks to their help, I realized that my life wouldn't be worth very much if I had killed someone. I realized that I did not have to give into my darker impulses. I am ashamed of what I almost become. Maybe you didn't have the right friend to talk you away from the abyss after your husband's death. If that is the case, then I would like to try. I want to be your friend."

"You... you are trying to trick me..." Alia stuttered while raising her gun and blushing.

"No, I am not trying to trick you, and even if I wanted to, what good would it do me considering the position that I am in at the moment?" I asked. "I know what it's like to fall apart so please let me help you. Then again, if friendship means nothing to you anymore then I guess there is nothing more that I can say to you."

Goose bumps completely covered my flesh as I awaited Alia verdict. Her gun was shaking in her hands a little. She looked like she didn't know what she wanted to do. A single tear ran down her left cheek. Alia's shoulders slumped and she put the gun on a nearby coffee table. My new friend got down on her knees on placed her hand and my left shoulder. One thing come out of her mouth.

"I wish this hadn't happened to you."

"That makes two of us," I complained. "Since the danger is now over, I could really use an ambulance."

"I'll call for one," Noor's father agreed.

"If there is anything that I can do," Alia offered while stroking my hair.

"There is one thing that I would like from you," I begged with wide eyes.

"Alia, you are under arrest!" my least favorite officer interrupted as he ran in while flanked by two other policeman in blue.

"Can my friend wait with me until the ambulance comes to take me to the hospital?" I begged while holding onto Alia's left hand.

"Your friend?" Hugo gasped. "As hurt as you are and you turn a terrorist into a friend. You are something special, Connie."

"Please take Alia's gun and wait outside," I pleaded. "We were about to talk about to talk about something important."

"Fine," Hugo conceded while confiscating the gun. "While we are on the subject of friends, there are two of your friends who can't wait to see you."

"Connie!" both Noor and Louise called out while running in.

"Did she do this to you?" Noor prodded while pointing at the killer.

"I pretty much did it to myself," I explained while shaking my head.

"I knew something like this would happen," Louise grumbled. "Connie, I want you to know that I will visit you in the hospital as much as I can."

"I would appreciate that," I replied with a warm smile.

"You were willing to sacrifice your life for mine!" Noor practically sobbed while Hugo went outside with his officers. "I will never forget this as long as I live! If there is ever anything I can do for you, just ask and it's yours!"

"I don't mean to interrupt, but we don't have much time to talk and I believe that you had something to ask me, Connie," Alia questioned while continuing to stroke my hair in much the same way a mother would.

"Please, I have to know why Kat wanted to get involved in your mad plan," I desperately implored.

"I thought that you were going to ask me that," Alia whined. "In the state of mind I was in, all I cared about was that I had someone to manipulate so I didn't bother to ask what Kat's motives were. I'm so very sorry!"

"This is just great!" I blared. "The person who killed Kat didn't know what happened to her and the person who got her into all of this doesn't know what happened either! How am I supposed to find out why Kat wanted to flood Paris now, conduct a seance?"

"Connie, stop this now!" Louise ordered. "Do you want to make yourself sicker?"

"She's right," Noor agreed. "The only thing that you should concentrate on now is getting better."

"If only it were that simple," I debated.

"Don't you have any clues that could ease your mind?" Louise probed.

"I only have a small one," I whined. "Kat changed her whole look when she was going out with Tristan."

"Who is he?" Alia butted in.

"He was the guy that I almost got into a fist fight with at Kat's funeral," I clarified.

"Ah, I think you could have taken him," Noor joked.

"Anyway, Tristan kept playing the field on Kat," I mused. "He even hit on me. I really got a good laugh telling him that I never paddle my canoe into his end of the lake which made him blush as red as a beet. Kat told me that she changed her look to signify that she wasn't going to let anyone pick on her anymore. I should have realized that meant she was having problems and gotten her some help, but all I could do was think about how hot Kat's new look made her."

"You can't blame yourself!" Noor protested. "You are not a therapist, and besides you were too close to the problem!"

"So you blame Tristan?" Louise had to know.

"Not entirely," I argued. "It is my experience that a woman gets revenge on the man when the man cheats. She doesn't try to destroy a whole town. There had to have been something else wrong with poor Kat."

"Point taken," Alia agreed. "I have a favor that I would like to ask my new friend."

"What?" I asked.

"I know that it is going to be a long time before you are able to do this, but could you find out for sure what happened to my husband," Alia begged.

"I am truly sorry, but the answer is 'no'," I refused. "I used to think detective work was fun, but it isn't fun anymore. I lost my best friend solving this case and I now know how Batman must have felt when Bane broke his back. I have lost too much to ever do this again."

"You should never make an important decision under duress," Alia advised. 

"She's right," Noor concurred. "Wait until your back heels and then give yourself some more time to get over losing Kat so you can make an intelligent decision."

Our conversation was cut off by the sound of the approaching ambulance. The paramedics quickly came into the room with a stretcher and put me in it so I laid on my side. When they took me outside, I saw that half of the police cars had been sent away to make room for the ambulance. I could hear the sound of the police arresting my new friend Alia behind me. When the paramedics put me in the ambulance and shut the door, I went to sleep since I was so wiped out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is next for Connie now that she has just solved the most painful case of her life? Will she still want to be a detective? Will romance be in her future?


	15. Louise Takes Care Of Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louise took care of Connie after she left the hospital. After Connie's back healed, they started their first date. Romance is in the air.

A nurse is pushing me in a wheelchair towards the exit of the hospital with Louise and her son Luc walking behind me. Even though I am being discharged from the hospital after four days, I am still not very happy. The reason is all of the things that are making my heart heavy at the moment. I know that I miss Kat in spite of the awful part that she played in the mystery that I have just solved. I would give anything to find out what could have happened to Kat to make her go so nuts, but I know I would have a much better chance at winning the lottery than I would solving that mystery since my friend is dead.

Maybe I should try to let it go so that I can concentrate on recuperating from my illness. I also am sad because I have not fully recovered from the surgery that fixed a tear in one of the muscles in my back. The main problems are that I am wearing a back brace and I am going to be bedridden for two days so my back can return to full strength. That is why Louise is behind me. She agreed to take care of me until I am strong enough to take care of myself again. I know that it will not be easy for Louise to take care of me especially since one of the things that my tough friend will have to do for me involves a bed pan. This is one of the times when you find out who your friends really are. I cannot help but think of the event that started this two days ago.

***

Louise came into my hospital room wearing a plain white shirt and a pink skirt. My heart skipped a beat when my friend smiled at me. That is because I realized that I have been developing a crush on her. I also noticed that her small son Luc was following behind her. I was happy to see him as well because I wanted to meet him ever since his mom showed me a picture of him when I was trying to stop Vincent from spreading his Elixir Of Love throughout Paris. I could see how much Louise's face beamed when she showed me that picture. I can tell that Luc must be related to Louise because he has her eyes and the same color of hair. I am surprised that Luc seemed just as happy to see me as I was to see him.

"Hello, Connie," Louise spoke with a smile while handing me a bouquet of roses.

"I am always happy to see you, Louise," I responded while blushing beet red. "I am glad that you are here too, Luc. I have wanted to meet you ever since your mother showed me your picture a few years ago. I could always tell that she is very proud of you."

"I have always wanted to meet a hero!" Luc proclaimed while looking right at me.

"Me?" I guessed.

"Well, you did save Paris from being flooded," Luc explained. "When I grow up, I want to be a detective just like you!"

"Sit down, Luc," I gently ordered which caused the friendly boy to sit in a red plastic chair next to me. "I bet when you think of detectives, you only see the glamour of the profession. That is how I used to be. I guess I got that way by reading too many Nancy Drew books. I know now that the job can be very dangerous and very bloody. I lost my best friend solving the last case. It very nearly cost me my life and my sanity. Because I was chasing criminals, I am now stuck in this hospital bed. I want you to know that I am not trying to scare you and I am not telling you to give up on trying to be a detective. I just want you to know what you would be getting into. You have plenty of time to decide on your career. My advice to you is to enjoy being a kid while you still can."

"O-kay," Luc stuttered while looking at the floor. I hated to let out some of the air out of the poor boy's balloon, but I did it for his own good.

"That is good advice to follow, honey," Louise advised while patting his back.

"Sure, Mom," Luc sighed.

"Um... Louise, there is something important that I need to ask you," I nervously mentioned.

"Luc, please wait in the hall," Louise requested.

"I hope that I wasn't too rough on him," I mused as soon as Luc left the room.

"I am glad that you gave him something to think about," Louise commented with a frown. "He has had a healthy case of hero worship lately and he needed to be brought back down to Earth. I am sure that he will get over it. Now, what did you want to ask me?"

"I am getting discharged in two days, but it is going to take me a while to heal even after that," I revealed with anxious eyes. "I won't be able to do some of the things that I have taken for granted for a while."

"Are you asking me to take care of you?" Louise prodded.

"Well... yes, " I choked out.

"I'd be happy to," Louise accepted while rubbing my left arm.

"I don't want to put you out," I reasoned. "Some of the things that you will have to do for me won't be pleasant."

"No, it's okay," Louise insisted. "I'll enjoy having you stay with us for a while. I am sure that Luc will enjoy it too."

"My doctor's information is on that table over there," I said while pointing at the table next to the bed. "You'll need to give her a call."

"You got it," Louise agreed while picking up the paper with the information.

***

So that is how that I wound up staying with my toughest and my hottest friend. A warm feeling entered my heart as we approached the blue van that Louise rented just for me. I wonder just how much money Louise is shelling out to take care of me. I am going to have to remember to offer to pay some of my expenses especially since my friend has a son to take care of. Louise opened the back door and pushed a button to bring the mechanical ramp down with a loud metallic noise. The brunette powerhouse reversed the process to put me inside the van. Louise entered through the driver's door and came back to buckle me in while Luc entered through the passenger door. It did not take long for us to get to Louise's home from the hospital.

I did not ask Louise to take care of me simply because I am developing a crush on her. I also asked her to be my temporary nurse because I knew that her home was large enough to accommodate a wheelchair. Since I already know how spacious Louise's house is, I know there should be no trouble in getting my wheelchair into a bedroom where I will be trapped for two days. My friend must really like me since she is willing to be my nursemaid. I know that she has even taken a week of vacation time to be with me. I am very lucky to have a friend like Louise. My hopeful love interest wheeled me into the room where I am going to recover from my surgery and helped me into the bed. The last thing she did before leaving to fix lunch was to point out a bell on the nightstand.

"Just ring if you need anything," Louise instructed.

"I'll do that," I agreed.

I was so tired because of the excitement of leaving the hospital that I fell asleep as soon as Louise left. I only got an hour's worth of sleep before my brunette friend brought me a tuna sandwich on a tray. She was right that I wouldn't want to eat very much on my first meal away from the hospital. That was how she took care of me for those first two days. She brought in my meals on trays and she would clean my bed pan. It was really fun when she gave me a sponge bath in bed the next day, She would begin to unbutton my pink nightgown and I would blush like crazy.

"Are you really this embarrassed to have me bathe you?" Louise wondered. "I have seen you naked before."

"I am not embarrassed," I replied while shaking my head. "You are turning me on."

"Oh, really?" Louise squealed as a devilish smile crept across her face while stroking my platinum blonde hair.

"The thing is, I really like you a lot," I spoke out with my heart beating in my ears. "I was wondering if you would like to go on a date with me when my back gets better."

"I think that is a great idea," Louise accepted.

"Please kiss me," I begged.

As Louise kissed me just like I wanted, I wondered how the upcoming date could change my life and I realized that I couldn't wait.

Two weeks after I left the hospital, I was fully upright again. Louise is celebrating by taking me to a very fancy restaurant. She is wearing a glittering silver dress and matching shoes. I am wearing a slinky red dress. I am happy to go on this date with Louise, but I am worried that my date will want to pay for me again. Louise has shelled out a lot of money to take care of me over the past few weeks and although I am grateful for everything that my hot friend has done for me, I am starting to get embarrassed. I know that the babe can afford these things without any trouble because of her successful security company, but not being able to pay my own way makes me feel like less of a person. I think about that as the waiter escorts us both to our table covered with a checkered tablecloth amidst all of the lights that that have been lowered for ambiance.

"May I have your drink orders, ladies?" the waiter wearing the black tuxedo asked.

"Is it okay if we both have champagne to celebrate your getting better, Connie?" Louise wondered.

"That would be fine," I accepted.

I watched the waiter leave to get our champagne and then I looked at Louise. My breath caught in my throat when I saw her smiling at me. I reached for her hand without knowing what I was doing it and a powerful electric spark went up my arm when she closed her hand around mine. Does this mean that we are girlfriends? That would make my life complete if we were. Even though I was feeling very romantic at the moment, there was still something that I had to get off my chest before the waiter came back for our food orders.

"Louise, can we talk for a second?" I requested.

"You can talk to me about anything," Louise replied while batting her eyelashes at me.

"I would like us to pay for our own meals," I poured out.

"Oh?" Louise spoke while opening her eyes in surprise.

"It is just that you have been paying for everything lately!" I whined. "You rented that van to bring me to your house from the hospital which probably cost you a pretty penny. Vehicles capable of transporting wheelchairs don't come cheap. You spent all that time taking care of me. You even payed for the massages we got that one time. Please do not misunderstand me. I am very grateful for everything that you have done for me. I just need to pay my own way sometimes. When you don't let me, it wounds my pride a little."

"I am sorry," Louise apologized while looking down at the table in shame. "I never meant to make you feel that way."

"I know you didn't," I answered while stroking Louise's knuckles with my thumb. "I know that you only do those things because your my friend.

"Is it okay if I pay for our hotel room?" Louise probed. "That will be our biggest expense of the night."

"As long I can pay for something," I accepted.

"Okay, you can pay for your own meal if that will make you happy," Louise accepted while shrugging her shoulders.

After Louise and I settled our little disagreement, we spent the next few minutes looking at our menus deciding on what to eat. Even with the distraction, we could not help but steal several glances at each other. Each time that I look at Louise, a warm feeling covers my face. I don't want to be just friends with Louise anymore. I want more. I want to be her girlfriend. Maybe one of these days I can move in with that firecracker and we can both take care of Luc while we take care of each other. My thoughts get interrupted when the waiter brought our champagne. I ordered the spaghetti and Louise ordered escargot which is otherwise known as snails. As soon as we started eating our meals, I wondered how anyone could eat snails until Louise got my attention.

"Would you like some of mine?" Louise wondered which caused me to make a sour face since I did not like Green Eggs And Ham, er I mean snails.

"Um... well..." I hesitated as I tried to think about how to turn Louise down without upsetting her. "I was never very good at eating things that crawl on the ground.

"I will make you a deal," Louise bargained. "I will give you a kiss if you try some."

"How can I resist an offer like that?" I said a little louder than I intended.

Louise cracked open one of her snail shells and put the meat on her fork. She reached her fork towards me and I opened my mouth while closing my eyes. When I felt the snail meat press against my bottom lip, I took the morsel into my mouth and started chewing it. It wasn't half bad. I can't believe that I am even thinking this, but I rather liked it.

"What did you think?" Louise wondered out loud.

"It was good," I chimed. "I think that I would order it myself next time."

"Connie, I think that you are the bravest person that I have ever known," Louise complimented me. "Not many people would go against their beliefs and try something new like that."

"You really know how to make me blush," I mused as the color of my face turned into a dark crimson.

"I can understand why Luc likes you so much," Louise revealed.

"Oh, does he?" I pondered.

"The other day, he told me 'Mom, if you are into girls now, I don't think that you will find one better than Connie.'" Louise explained.

"Seems like he is trying to do a little matchmaking for Mommy," I reasoned.

"Well, I do think that you are quite attractive," Louise praised me.

"There is something that you owe me," I insisted.

"What?" Louise wanted to know.

I said nothing, but I tapped my right index finger on my lips to get my message across. After all, I kept up my end of the bargain. I ate one of Louise's snails so she owed me a kiss. My friend smiled and walked to my side of the table. She bent down and made it feel like that I could not breathe for a few seconds. I don't think that I have ever blushed this much. No kiss has ever made me feel so alive before. There is no doubt about. I am hopelessly in love with Louise.

"How was that?" Louise asked while blushing just as much as I was.

"I could definitely get used to your kisses, Louise," I murmured while sweating a great deal.

"I hope you do," Louise flirted while planting a kiss on my forehead.

There was nothing else that went on until the end of dinner. I can hear the disc jockey playing a slow song. It took me a few seconds to realize that the song is "Take My Breath Away" from the movie Top Gun. My breath caught in my throat when Louise stood up and walked towards me because I knew what she was going to do. She pointed at herself, pointed at me, and then pointed at the dance floor. I wordlessly got up and put my hand in hers so she could lead me to the floor. I let her lead me through a waltz as she spun me around. I was Louise's helpless puppet, but I did not care because I was so happy. I closed my eyes in an act of complete trust and surrendered myself to all of the emotions that I was feeling. I could only open my eyes towards the end of the song when the moment compelled me to say something.

"It is fitting that we danced to this song," I commented with wistful eyes.

"Why?"

"You take my breath away every time that I look at you," I confessed.

Louise looked at me for a couple of seconds as if she was stunned. Then she put her hands on my waist and kissed me which turned me into silly putty. At that moment, she could have done anything she wanted to me. My temperature skyrocketed. I am hers and I am in love.

"Do you want to dance some more?" Louise offered.

"Could we sit down for a moment please?" I begged. "I want to talk to you about something."

I sat back in my chair and took a deep breath to settle my feelings. Louise sat in her chair and patiently waited for me to get out what I had to say. I was nervous to say what was in my heart because I did not know how the woman in front of me would react. I finally decided that the only thing that I could do was to rip the bandage off and get it over with.

"You see..." I stuttered.

"Tell me," Louise gently insisted while putting her hand on my arm.

That is when the disc jockey played the worst possible song that he could have played. He put on "Total Eclipse Of The Heart". That song is a sore spot in my heart because it was Kat's favorite song and it was the song that I sang at her funeral. The song made me sad not only because I miss my friend, but also because I know that I will probably never find why she went crazy at the end. If the person who killed her did not know what went wrong and the person who got her into that sick scheme of flooding Paris did not know either then what chance did I have of ever figuring it out? My eyes started to become wet. If there is one thing that I hate, it is when I cry in public. I guess it is a matter of pride for me.

"Oh, sweetie!" Louise cooed while patting my back. "Tell me what is wrong."

"NO!" I squealed as I ran into the women's restroom with my tough friend following me close behind. I am just glad that the restroom was vacant at the time. I could do nothing but sit in a fluffy pink couch and wail with my hands over my eyes.

"It's okay, Connie," Louise gently murmured while embracing me in a tight hug. "I've got you."

After a few minutes, I stopped crying which caused Louise to take a red handkerchief from her purse and clean my face off. I could not help but think that I would be in a lot worse shape than I already was if I did not have Louise to help me as I blew my nose. It made me feel a little better just having Louise to pat my back.

"What's wrong, Angel?" Louise probed.

"I miss her," I sighed into my lady's shoulder.

"I know you do," Louise cooed.

"That was Kat's song," I offered to explain what set me off.

"Ah, so that's what happened," Louise commented.

"Why did she do it?" I had to know.

"I wish that I could tell you," Louise replied. 

"I used to think that there wasn't a bad bone in Kat's body," I whined.

"We all have bad bones in our bodies," Louise pointed out. "Let me ask you something. Did you ever dream that you could commit murder before Marion killed Kat?"

"No," I sighed.

"That should tell you something," Louise consoled me. "Maybe you would be better off if you let it go."

"I would like to, but it is hard," I complained. "I think about all the slumber parties we went to, all of the times she helped me with my homework, all the movies we saw and now I wonder if all of those memories are fake."

"You don't have to abandon your memories just because Kat went off the deep end," Louise advised. "You should always cherish them."

"Okay," I grumbled.

"I've got an idea," Louise commented. "Why don't we pay for our meals and head to our hotel room. I promise to show you a good time."

The possibilities of what Louise and I might do in that hotel room just took my breath away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Louise and Connie check into a motel room to really heat things up on their date. Does Connie have any special fantasies and will they drive a wedge between the two lovers.


	16. Burning Finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this final chapter, the relationship between Connie and Louise boils over.

Louise and I are standing outside our VIP hotel room. The walls in the hallway are all perfectly blue and the white carpet is in perfect shape as well. My head is spinning when I consider all of the possibilities that might be in store for us. The thing that I want to do the most is confess my love for Louise because she is the only woman that I ever want to be with. I would have confessed at the fancy restaurant that we ate at if their stupid disc jockey had not have played Kat's favorite song "Total Eclipse Of The Heart". That unfortunate incident caused me to go on a crying jag in honor of my dead friend. It also sent me running into the lady's room because it embarrasses me to cry in public. Now I have another chance to make a play for my hot brunette friend who has done so much to take care of me over the last couple of weeks and I am not going to let this opportunity pass me by.

After Louise slid the key card into the lock to open the door, I entered our room to look at our surroundings. I can tell that this room was made specifically for lovers. The floor is covered with luxurious white carpeting. The bed is covered by a red blanket. The pillows are pink and heart shaped. There is a small circular table next to the bed that has a vase filled with red roses and the table also has champagne chilled in an ice bucket. The thing that caught my eye the most was the hot tub out on the balcony. I am glad that I could not confess my love at the restaurant because this hotel room is a much more romantic setting.

"Connie, I need to talk to you," Louise ordered while sitting on the bed before I could even think of telling her that I love her.

"What do you want to talk about?" I probed while sitting on the bed next to my darling.

"Well... when you agreed to be Alia's hostage to help Noor out, I was mad at you," Louise let loose after a bit of hesitation.

"But you know that I had no choice!" I blared. "I couldn't afford to lose another friend."

"Yes, I know you did," Louise conceded while putting up her hands in a placating gesture. "After a while, I found out that I was much more scared than I was angry."

"I did not think that anything scared you!" I proclaimed as my eyes popped open in shock.

"We all get scared sometimes," Louise confessed as a tear fell down her face. "I kept imagining that I heard the bullet that would take your life. I don't know what I would have done if Alia had taken you from me."

I was so touched because my tough friend cut herself open to let out her emotions so I gave her my best hug. We stayed like that for a couple of seconds until Louise pried me off of her so she could continue.

"I don't think that I have ever been happier than when I heard the hostage situation was over and you were still alive," Louise went on as I racked my brain to figure out where my date was going with all of this. "You were a bit more banged up than I would have liked, but at least you were still alive."

"Actually, I am glad that I hurt my back," I commented.

"I don't understand," Louise replied with a confused look.

"I think that it saved my life," I clarified. "At first, Alia accused me of trying to trick her when I asked to be her friend. It was a lot easier to show that I was sincere since I was trapped on the floor. What good would it had done me to trick her? If I had been a well person, it would have been a lot harder to get to her."

"I have been doing a lot of thinking since then," Louise talked lightly. "No one is braver than you and no one is more caring than you. There is only one thing that I can say. I love you."

I froze into a statue because I was so shocked. I have never been happier in my life. Nevertheless, tears rained down my face which caused my girlfriend to squeeze me tightly. I will always remember this moment for as long as I live. Louise actually loves me. Things can only get better from now on.

"Are you okay?" Louise asked.

"Yes, It's just that I am just so happy!" I sobbed. "It is time for me to tell you what I was going to tell you when that stupid disc jockey played the wrong song. No one is more beautiful than you and you never take anything from anybody. I love you too!"

I embraced the new love of my life as hard as I could while she did the same to me. I felt my angel's warmth spread throughout my body which made me blush as red as a beet. I eventually wanted more from this contact so I ran the fingers of my left hand through Louise's hair while giving her my most passionate smooch. My girlfriend raised my body temperature even more by stabbing her tongue into my mouth. Just as it seemed when we were about to completely run out of air, Louise looked up at me.

"You are a great kisser," Louise complimented me with very little breath.

"Only because you are," I confirmed.

"How is your back?" my sweetie asked.

"Just fine," I chirped.

"I want to give you a massage to make sure," Louise insisted while looking at a white massage table against the right wall.

"There is no way that I can turn that down!" I chimed in with a laugh.

"There is one thing that you need to do first," Louise ordered.

"I'll do anything for my girlfriend," I responded happily.

"Take off all of your clothes!" Louise directed with a lewd smile.

My girlfriend Louise is looking at me as if I was a chocolate ice cream cone. She offered to give me a message, but the catch is that I have to get naked first. Not that it is all that much of a catch. Louise and I have had sex before and we have seen each other naked. Nevertheless, I am blushing more than I have ever did and I feel like that I could burn up at any second. I am ecstatic, excited and even a little bit scared. I want nothing else but to make love with my new girlfriend all night. That thought alone allows me to stand up from the bed and kick off my shoes.

"And it isn't even my birthday," I jibed with an evil smile on my face.

"It will be your birthday eventually," Louise reasoned while shrugging her shoulders. "You might as well dress for it."

"If you insist," I gave in while slowly sliding my slinky red dress down my body. While I was doing this, I watched my sweetie lightly chew on her lower lip. I decided to give the young lady a real thrill and blow her kiss which made her eyes pop open and her breath catch in her throat. I grinned wildly when I saw the effect I was having on my girlfriend. Once my dress was past my shoulders, I simply let it hit the floor. My breath was already speeding up to dangerous levels as I reached for my bra to let my B cup breasts loose. I could not take my eyes off of the tempest Louise as I slid my panties down to seal the deal.

"Let's get that massage, beautiful," Louise ordered while getting up from the bed and placing her hand on my shoulder.

"Not so fast!" I barked.

"What's wrong?" Louise wondered.

"I showed you mine," I pointed out. "Don't you think that it is only fair that you showed me yours?"

"Yes, that would be fair," Louise agreed while untying the strap that held up her silver dress. When the dress came down, I saw that my vision of loveliness was not wearing any underwear at all.

"Why, you vixen you!" I teased while feasting my eyes on my lady's naked body and especially her luscious D cup breasts.

"I didn't want underwear getting in my way in case we got to this point," Louise explained. "Now get on the table and lay on your stomach."

I quickly climbed on the table to comply with my beautiful girlfriend's request. I rested my head on a pillow to get comfortable. I can see Louise walking to the side of the table and opening a red bottle so she can coat her hands with the oil that was inside. I thought that my beau was going to start by massaging my back, but she didn't. She started with my right foot. She rubbed the gaps in between my toes which caused me to laugh a little.

"Oh, is my girlfriend ticklish there?" Louise laughed.

"It looks like I am," I answered while shrugging my shoulders.

"That's interesting!" Louise cackled. "Now I'll know what to do if you ever get out of line."

"I wouldn't dare!" I promised. "I wouldn't want to do anything to make you mad."

"Smart woman," Louise joked.

Louise tried to massage the soles of my feet, but it turned out that there was not a place on my feet that was not ticklish. I could hear my steady make some sort of unintelligible noise behind me. I could tell that she was filing away each one of my ticklish spots in her mind just in case she felt naughty in the distant future. I made it a point to try to hold back my laughter as much as I could even though I knew that it was going to be difficult since every one of Louise's touches lights a fire in me.

She is now massaging my legs. My honey knows just where to touch me to get the most rise out of me. My angel knows how to work my muscles into their proper places. My breath has definitely sped up ever since Louise started this massage. I could not help but start moaning when my lover moved the massage to my ass. It is as if I am a lump of clay helpless to resist the artist's will. A warm feeling went through my whole body when Louise started manipulating my back. That is definitely the part that my sweetie spent the most time on because of the injury that I have just healed from. My babe ended the first stage of the massage by rubbing the kinks out of my neck. I could feel a sense of urgency when she gave me a command after that.

"Turn over."

I turned over and waited for what would come next. I gasped loudly and my eyes expanded to spaghetti plates when Louise climbed on top of me. The hot minx gave me a kiss designed to suck the life out of me. As the kiss dragged on, my honey probed my mouth with her tongue and I used my own tongue to wrestle with hers. I could not help but let out a muffled moan during the kiss. Unfortunately, a person can only go without oxygen for so long so we had to break the kiss.

"Oh, I love it when you do that!" I proclaimed.

"I bet that you will really love it when I do this," Louise guessed while rubbing my breasts.

"Yyyyyeeesssss!" I sighed with very little breath.

Louise would not only rub my breasts, but she would gently twist my nipples to really send me into orbit. I started screaming when Louise started sucking on my breasts. When the angel got tired of that, she opened my legs and ate me out. Louise just might make me insane if she keeps this up much longer.

"DON'T YOU DARE STOP!" I commanded with much urgency.

Once Louise knew that I was her prisoner of love, she stuck two of her bent fingers inside my love box and started jerking them back and forth. I knew that was not going to be long before I exploded.

"UGH!" I cried.

"Are you gonna' cum for me, baby?" Louise sadistically wondered.

"YEESSSS!"

"Have you ever squirted during an orgasm before?" Louise pestered.

"NO!" I loudly confessed.

"There is a first time for everything for everything," Louise pointed out while wearing an evil grin. "I want you to squirt for me."

"NNERRRRGHHHH!" I screamed as my orgasm hit me and my body went into powerful convulsions which caused my eyes to roll to the back of my head.

Louise always did get whatever she wanted. My body started flopping up and down and I looked just like a lewd fountain as the juice from my vagina sprayed out. Some of it even hit the floor. When I was all done, I could do nothing until my breathing and heart rate came back down to normal levels. Only one thought entered my mind after that.

"That was the best massage that I have ever had!" I told my girlfriend.

"I aim to please," Louise replied. "Would you like to try out the hot tub next?"

"That sounds nice," I agreed.

Louise brought the champagne bucket with her as we walked out onto the balcony and I pulled the ornamental privacy screen. Louise turned on the tub and we both sank into the warm bubbling water. I felt such a great feeling of security when the water caressed my muscles. It felt nice to drink the champagne with my special someone. I guess I am getting used to drinking alcohol since I did not choke on it this time like I did at the bar with Leo and Tristan. I felt even better when my beautiful girlfriend kissed me.

"Now that we are girlfriends, you might as well move in with me," Louise offered.

"Are you sure that Luc would be okay with that?" I probed.

"I have already spoke to him about that and he said that he would be very happy if you came to live with us," Louise revealed.

"That's great because I love Luc too!" I cried out in glee. "I would love to help you take care of him."

"I am very glad that you said that because I could never be with anyone who did not love my son," Louise cautioned. "There is something that happened in the restaurant that I am curious about."

"Yeah?" I shuddered because I was afraid of what my steady was going to ask me.

"Why did you run into the bathroom when you started to cry?" Louise asked. "Were you ashamed?"

"I have always felt bad about crying in public," I revealed. "I guess it has always been a matter of pride for me."

"You shouldn't be embarrassed about that especially after everything that you have been through," Louise mentioned while patting my back. "Anybody would cry if they lost their best friend."

"I am glad that you feel that way," I commented with a smile.

"On a brighter note, I would like to fulfill any of your wildest fantasies tonight since we are celebrating us becoming girlfriends," Louise offered. "Is there anything special that you would like me to do?"

"Well..." I stuttered.

"You don't have to be embarrassed," Louise promised while kissing the knuckles of my right hand.

"I do have one, but I don't know how you will react since it is a little weird," I blurted out.

"For one night only, I am willing to do any fantasy you want," Louise revealed.

"If you are absolutely sure about that, I was wondering if Noor could play too tonight," I pleaded.

Instead of answering me with words, Louise smiled and calmly got out the hot tub. She picked up a red towel and dried herself off as I watched her every move. Since my darling got out of the tub, I saw absolutely no reason to remain in it so I left to get my own towel. Once I was dry, I sat on the bed and watched the spitfire dial the phone. A very naughty thought came into my mind for a prank that I could play. I waited for my girlfriend to start talking and then I carried out my mad plan.

"Hello, Noor? I was wondering if..."

I wrapped my arms around Louise's waist from behind and nibbled on her left ear.

"Ah! Stop it! No, not you Noor. Connie and I..."

Even though my girlfriend told me to stop my naughty game, I just couldn't help myself. Louise was so beautiful and so naked while I was feeling so naughty and so horny. I put gentle kisses on Louise's left shoulder.

"Mmm! Yes, I'm fine, Noor. Connie and I are having a party and we would like to invite you. It will..."

Again I cut my hot flame off by massaging her breasts. I upped the ante by tweaking her nipples which caused my darling to bend over all the way down to the desk. I felt that if my sweetheart really wanted me to stop my little prank, she could have very easily put down the phone just long enough to tell me off.

"Oh, yeesh! No, I am not sick! As I was saying, it will just be the three of us. We are at..."

I pulled my naughtiest prank yet by digging my fingers into my steady's pussy to make her pound her right fist onto the table and almost knock the phone down to the floor. I know that Louise is going to make me pay for this later, but I just don't care.

"OHOHOH! Yes, Connie is being very naughty. I will deal with her later. We are at The Hotel Ridgemont room 423. You'll come in twenty minutes? Thanks. Bye!"

Louise hanged up the receiver and turned around to face me with her arms folded across her chest. I could see thunderstorms erupting in her eyes. I could tell she was deciding what she should do with me. There is no doubt about it. My beautiful and seductive beau is mad at me. I know that I should be scared out of my wits right now, but for some strange reason I am not. Maybe Kat's death drove me completely bonkers. Maybe I am much too wigged out on desire to care what my brunette temptress does to me.

"Just what did you think that you were doing, you conniving shrew?!" Louise blared at me.

I must be completely nuts because the only thing I could do in response to Louise's tantrum was to grin wickedly.

"Oh, so you think what you did is funny, do you?" Louise thundered.

I was in the mood to get into as much trouble as I could so I simply shrugged my shoulders.

"You are going to have to be punished," Louise calmly threatened.

"What did you have in mind?" I wondered.

Louise sat on the bed and reached for her brown suitcase which Louise had left before we went to the restaurant. She unzipped it and rummaged around inside for a few seconds with a very determined look on her face. I could tell that she had found what she was looking for when a mean smile crept over her face. She came back up with a red hair brush in her right hand. I really should have known what she intended to do with the hairbrush, but I was having a serious case of brain fade at the moment so I gave my sweetheart a look of complete stupidity.

"I didn't think that you were going to fix your hair now of all times," I complained.

"Oh, Connie," Louise laughed. "I am not going to use the hairbrush to fix my hair."

"Then what are you going to use it for?" I wondered out loud even though I was finally starting to get a strong inkling about what was going to happen.

Before I even knew what was happening, Louise grabbed my wrist and sharply pulled me forward so I landed over her knees. She held me in place with her right arm and started continuously spanking my rear with the hard side of the hairbrush. I was grunting a little because of the pain, but I thought that it was best to calmly accept my punishment because I didn't know what my girlfriend would do if I put up a fuss. After a minute, something strange started to happen. I was getting wet. I couldn't believe it, but I was starting to get turned on because of the spanking my darling was giving me. I was actually starting to lose it.

"AH! AH!" I cried out.

"Are you getting turned on, baby?" Louise asked.

"Yes, I've been a bad girl! Please punish me!"

I was starting to breath rapidly and periodic tears wear leaking from my eyes. I was screaming louder each time the hairbrush landed on my bottom. I knew that the punishment was driving me completely and utterly up the wall. Finally, I let loose a powerful scream when my orgasm hit. The tremor that shook my entire body and made my eyes roll to the back of my head took me down to the floor. I spent the next minute trying to catch my breath.

"Are you okay, Connie?" Louise cooed while rubbing my right shoulder to calm me down.

"I'm just fine!" I chimed in with a smile.

"I wasn't too rough with you, was I?" Louise whined.

"No, I enjoyed every second of your punishment," I ensured my flaming hottie.

"I never knew that you could be so kinky," Louise stated.

"I could say the same about you since you are the one who did it," I pointed out.

Louise was about to respond to my comment, but she was interrupted by someone knocking on the door. I knew that my fun for the night clearly wasn't over since that had to be Noor that was asking to be let in. My mouth watered due to the possibilities.

"Why don't you let Noor in and get her ready for our game," Louise calmly ordered.

I walked to the door and looked through the peephole to make sure that some unknown stranger wasn't knocking on the door. That is the first rule of hotel safety. You never know when some freak could knock on your door. When I looked through the peephole, I saw that it was my wild friend with short brunette hair. She is so wild, she never wears underwear and she hardly ever shaves her pussy. The weird thing was that she was wearing a long brown trench coat. I wondered why she would wear such a thing in the summer. I quickly opened the door and pulled the sexy beast inside. I lightly shoved her against the wall and started kissing her.

"Oh, Connie!" Noor gasped.

When I took a step back from Noor, I saw that my friend was in her bare feet. A tantalizing thought occurred to me. What if the trench coat is the only thing that Noor is wearing. I was about to test out my theory when Louise got out of bed and walked towards us with a determined gait to join the game. I was hoping that my sweetie would get involved. Otherwise it might look like I was cheating. The first thing that my babe did was kiss Noor's neck.

"Um..." Noor moaned.

"We are glad that you are could make it," Louise declared just before biting down once on the left earlobe of the only woman in the room who was wearing clothing.

"I wouldn't miss this for the world!" the wild woman proclaimed.

"My girlfriend and I are celebrating us getting together," I mentioned just before blowing in Noor's ear.

"AH! And you chose me to help you celebrate?" Noor squeaked. "I'm honored!"

"I'm glad," I replied.

"Uh, Connie, why is your butt all red?" Noor had to know.

"I thought that you would be able to figure that out for yourself," I teased.

"Hmm... would this have anything to do with the fact that you were being naughty while your lovely girlfriend was talking to me over the phone?" Noor guessed after thinking about it for a couple of seconds.

"You got it!" I laughed.

"Did you enjoy your spanking?" Noor jibed.

"What do you think?" I answered with a wicked grin while winking my right eye.

"I'm going to have to try that sometime," Noor mused.

"Sweetheart, don't you think that Noor is a tad overdressed for this party?" Louise wondered.

"Yes, but somehow I don't think that it will be very hard for us to fix that," I guessed.

"I got the same idea since I am getting very exciting vibes from that coat," Louise agreed while kissing my right shoulder. "Why don't you take care of that, Connie?"

"Gladly!" I chirped while licking my lips unconciously.

My heart felt like that it could jump from my chest as I approached Noor. Since her feet were bare, I felt that it was a reasonably safe assumption that it will only take a few short seconds to get Noor naked. I unbuckled the belt that was around the waist of the coat and then I slowly unbuttoned the top button to reveal Noor's collar bone which I kissed a couple of times. I went on to unbutton the second button which showed me some of the vixen's cleavage which showed me that my theory was correct. The brazen woman was definitely naked under her coat. As I reached for the next button, my hands were slightly shaking. When, I unbuttoned the third button, I saw a breathtaking view of Noor's plump breasts. My degree of lust increased with each button that I successfully unfastened. As soon as I got the last button undone, I peeled the garment from my sexy friend's shoulders and let it hit the floor. I took a minute to admire Noor's well developed breasts that were just as big as my girlfriend's and her hot tattoos. It is weird that I find Noor's tattoos so attractive since they gross me out when they are on any other girl. I quickly wanted to do more than just look so I suckled the siren's left breast.

"DAMN IT! HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT WAS WHAT I WANTED?!" Noor loudly protested.

While I was busy with the siren's breasts, I could see Louise nibble on her right ear. It looked to me that it was going to be a team effort to get Noor off and that suited me just fine. Once my girlfriend got tired of the ear, she went down to the breast that I wasn't molesting. I decided that I wanted a change of tactics so I started a round of French kissing with my naked friend. It was clear that our guest was a lot better at tonsil hockey than I was since she kept pinning my tongue to the bottom of my mouth.

"You are so good at that!" I whined with a muffled voice since my tongue was stuck under the tongue of the girl I was kissing.

"I have had a lot of practice," Noor confessed.

I was going crazy. That was not only because of Noor's kisses, but it was also the sight of Louise. I decided that it was time to drive Noor just as crazy as she was driving me. I felt extremely flush as I got down on my knees to eat my friend out. While I was doing that, Louise rubbed her left breast while suckling her right. The problem was that I just could not get into eating Noor out since her pussy was way too hairy for my tastes. I compensated for this my rubbing the wicked woman's love box with my right hand.

"OH, HELP!" Noor cried out while shaking all over her body. "YOU TWO ARE KILLING ME!"

"Connie, since you got to control Noor that time, I find that it is only fair that I get to play with her this time." Louise reasoned.

"Go for it!" I commanded.

Louise tightly wrapped her arms tightly around our mutual friend and kissed the living daylights out of her. I could tell that Louise was really getting into it since she was not only kissing Noor, but she was also fondling our sexy friend's ass as well. If it Louise had done this at any other time, I would have been extremely angry and jealous to see my girlfriend giving this attention to someone other than me. However, this time it was making me hotter than I had ever been in my life. Without even realizing I was doing it, I had started rubbing my pussy with my right hand.

"AAAAUUUGHH!" I cried out.

"Is this making you hot, sweetie?" Louise wanted to know.

"Yes!" I squeaked while continuing the attack on my love box. All of the excitement and lust of the situation was turning my legs into jelly so much that I wound up on my knees.

"Seeing you play with yourself is clearly making me hot, so I will continue to play with Noor if you continue to make yourself happy," Louise promised.

"I AM LOSING MY MIND!" I moaned while landing on my back with my legs up in the air.

Louise bit down softly on Noor's neck and started sucking on in while I went into overdrive on my poor pussy. I could hear our cries of passion fill the room.

"You are so hot, Louise!" I shrieked to compliment my beau.

"I had no idea that I would be having sex with a vampire!" Noor whined.

I was so into the act of burying two of my fingers inside my vagina that I forgot where I was and my own name. Each time that I rubbed my special place, I felt as if I had gotten struck with lightening. I could very clearly hear sexy wet sounds coming from my vagina each time that I rubbed it. It was if my hand was moving by itself at the moment and I had absolutely no control over what was happening. I knew that it was only going to be a matter of moments before I exploded. I could do nothing but attack myself as I watched Louise got down on her knees behind Noor and attack her secret place from behind.

"HEHEHEE! OOOOOH!" I spat out to the entire world after ten minutes of stretching out my special organ.

"Why don't you get down there and help her out, Noor?" Louise commanded.

"If you say so," Noor agreed just before getting my hand away from my leaky center so she could eat me out.

I could not believe what was going on when I felt Noor eating out my pussy with her tongue inside me. I could clearly see that I was definitely not the first woman that Noor has made a meal out of because of the masterful manipulation that she used on me. She knew just what places to reach with her tongue to drive my body temperature to dangerously critical levels. It did not take much of the siren's masterful attacks on myself to give me one of the greatest earthquakes of my life.

"AAAAARRRHHH!" I shrieked out as my juices went flying out of me.

"Gee whiz, Connie!" Noor barked as the shock of the first of my cum gushes hitting her in the face caused her to jerk her head back. Once Noor's head was out of the way, there was nothing to stop me from doing my second fountain impersonation of the night which painted my cum on random places on the carpet. "You are an animal, darling!"

"She sure is!" Louise agreed. "I am just glad that she is mine!"

"Oh, man!" I wheezed while trying to collect my thoughts.

"Are you okay?" Louise pressed with a concerned look on her face.

"Yeah," I replied with very little breath.

"I think that Connie and I need to celebrate together now," Louise ordered. "You are welcome to watch if you want, Noor."

"Nah, I think that I had better go," Noor refused. "I just want to say one thing to Connie before I go."

"What?" I probed while sitting up on the floor so I could listen to my friend.

"I want to thank you for saving my life!" Noor implored passionately. "I'll never be able to pay you back for as long as I live!"

"But friends don't have to pay each other back," I debated while getting up so I could look my friend in the eye. "I had to do what I did. You want to know how to pay me back? All that you have to do is continue to be my friend."

"You have a very special girlfriend, Louise," Noor pointed out while putting her trench coat back on. "You better take care of her."

"I will," Louise conceded while looking at no one but me. "She makes me want to be a better person."

"I'll see you lovebirds later," Noor spoke while opening the door to leave.

"Bye!" we both answered while watching our friend leave.

"So now what do you want to do?" Louise wondered.

I could do nothing but rush to Louise and throw my arms around her so I could give her my best kiss. My life is complete. I am part of Louise's family now. We will both take care of Louise's son Luc while we take care of each other. I know that I could not ask for anything more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did anyone like this story? Opinions are welcome.


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